PM Roosevelt Skerrit has promised to undertake a media tour of the site of the proposed international airport in Wesley this week. He said he will take journalists around the construction site to witness the extent and progress of work at the airport. He said preparatory work is underway and that engineers have hit a significant milestone in the construction activities.
This week I intend on leading a media tour of the airport site at Wesley. As I have indicated, preparatory work on the international airport is ongoing and we have hit quite a few targets at the site. My office will make the necessary arrangements and inform the media shortly of the specifics. I look forward to bringing you and the people of Dominica along for a look at the work we have done so far.
Hon. Roosevelt Skerrit, Prime Minister of Dominica
Earlier this month, the contractor – Montreal Management Consultant Establishment (MMCE) – shipped in heavy equipment to be used for the construction via the Woodbridge Bay Port. Skerrit said the government is still awaiting the delivery of other equipment that will enable the actual construction to kickoff in earnest. He urged the residents of Wesley, Woodford Hill, and Palm True to remain cooperative with airport workers during the construction process.
Meanwhile, the general-secretary of the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF), Stephen Cotton, has written to the regional owners of LIAT airline to settle the payments of former employees following the bankruptcy of the airline. He wrote to the governments of Dominica, Barbados, Antigua and Barbuda, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines to express dismay at how long the payment issue has lingered.
Cotton said the regional governments had flouted the provisions of relevant conventions of the International Labour Organization (ILO) regarding the matter.
Two ILO Conventions and one ILO Recommendation specifically address worker claims in the event of enterprise insolvency: the ILO Protection of Wages Convention, 1949 (No. 95), the ILO Protection of Workers’ Claims (Employer’s Insolvency) Convention, 1992 (No. 173), and the Protection of Workers’ Claims (Employer’s Insolvency) Recommendation, 1992 (No. 180).
Stephen Cotton, General-Secretary of the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF)
The ITF general secretary tasked ABWU representatives to meet with the prime minister of Antigua and Barbuda, Gaston Browne, at a ITF conference in April.
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