Senator Delbert Paris is accusing the DLP administration of diverting $21 million meant for public sector investment. He said this misappropriation is partly responsible for the high cost of food prices in the country.
According to him, a sum of $40 million was allocated to the Ministry of Blue and Green Economy in the 2022-2023 national budget. He said around $19 million was actually spent in the sector – out of which $7.2 million was expended on the rehabilitation of the fishery complexes in Marigot and Roseau.
Paris emphasized that this misappropriation created a discrepancy in the expenditure between the period of Hurricane Maria or Tropical Storm Erika and the figures reflected in the budget estimates. He said the government has not given enough priority to agriculture, and that the lack of investment in agriculture is making the food import bill to rise.
The senator made a point that Dominica is one of two island nations within the currency union where the cost of food importation is 21% of all import commodities. He said the failure of the government to utilize the funding allocated to the agriculture ministry is discouraging farming among the populace and leading to high food import costs.
On the 2023-2024 budget estimates, Paris said the Skerrit-led government has a poor posture on sustaining the country’s resources. He said some questions remain to be answered on the budget estimates and that the government ought to lay more emphasis on economic recovery and resilience.
He tasked PM Roosevelt Skerrit to do more to salvage the economy and improve the standards of living for the people.
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