Linton to Organize Protest & Instigate Agencies against Skerrit over CBI Funds

Opposition leader Lennox Linton has vowed to organize protests and get international investigative agencies involved in the alleged $1.2 billion CBI funds purportedly stolen by the Roosevelt Skerrit administration. The UWP leader said the sustained campaign will force the DLP government to own up and account for the missing money since they failed to include it in the 2019-2020 national budget presented in July.  

Linton on September 6 gave Skerrit till September 20 to account for the money, saying it is now 60 days since the budget was presented without a mention of the unappropriated $1.2 billion. Linton said that since the people’s “where is the money?” campaign has not yeilded any fruits, the opposition will resort to staging peaceful protests and getting the international community involved.

Linton disclosed his party will instigate a civil disobedience or passive resistance against the government. He said there will be –

• A peaceful gathering on Victoria Street at 3 p.m. on September 30 to request the intervention of President Charles Savarin in this matter.
• A peaceful gathering outside the police headquarters on Bath Road at 3:45 p.m. on September 30 to request the intervention of the Commissioner of Police.
• A gathering outside of the High Court on Dame Eugenia Charles Boulevard at 4:30 p.m. on September 30 to get the judiciary involved in the opposition’s request.

Linton said the Skerrit government must deposit the missing funds into the consolidated fund of the country or there will be more consequences. Part of these consequences includes getting international investigative agencies involved in locating the stolen funds.

According to Linton, there will be “a campaign seeking the assistance of the US Federal Bureau of Investigations, Britain’s Scotland Yard, Interpol and the EU Financial Intelligence Unit to find the missing $1.2 billion and deposit it in the consolidated fund of Dominica.” But that is not all. The opposition also demands that “the list of electors is cleaned and voting ID cards for voting be issued.”

The UWP said the prime minister has created a Roosevelt Skerrit CBI Club to channel CBI revenues generated under the Economic Diversification Fund (EDF) into an undisclosed escrow account for personal enrichment. He said the $1.2 billion in question does not belong to either the UWP or the DLP; neither does it belong to Skerrit nor his friends at home and abroad, but to the entire Dominican people.

“This is a struggle to find hundreds of millions of dollars that belong to the people of Dominica so that it can be used for the benefit of all the people of Dominica, not just for Skerrit and his chosen few,” Linton insisted.

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