By RASHAD ROLLE
Tribune Staff Reporter
rrolle@tribunemedia.net
THE Democratic National Alliance wants the Minnis administration to articulate a more detailed plan for accepting Dominicans in the wake of that country’s devastation from Hurricane Maria.
“…Any policy position taken on providing relief must be organised, well thought out and articulated to the Bahamian people to ensure the best possible outcome without further worsening socioeconomic conditions within our nation or negatively impacting persons that are meant to benefit from such a policy,” Arinthia Komolafe, the DNA’s former candidate for Killarney, said in a statement. “According to reports, the minister of education had not been initially briefed on the prime minister’s commitment to the prime minister of Dominica, Mr Roosevelt Skerrit to determine in conjunction with the minister of immigration (who had been briefed) on the logistics or details of the prime minister’s commitment.
“In this regard, we propose that every effort to provide relief to our regional brothers and sisters is outlined in a detailed proposal including: the duration of the proposal, place/islands of accommodation and the schools under consideration to facilitate the administration’s proposal. “Additionally, the DNA would like Prime Minister Minnis to include the number of individuals that will be accommodated, the timeline for delivery of the list of persons to be accommodated, the process for screening the persons on the list and provision of the requisite details to the public on the policy regarding the bypass of our nation’s immigration laws and standing policies.”
Mrs Komolafe noted the party wants to know if any monetary contribution will be made to accommodate this temporary policy and “which line item of the national budget will be impacted as a result.”
Mrs Komolafe said the DNA would support any “reasonable and realistic proposal” the government makes that aims to assist Caribbean neighbours devastated by natural disasters.
Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis’ announcement Sunday that the country will accommodate students from Dominica who have been displaced by Hurricane Maria has garnered mixed reactions from Bahamians.
“There would have been a lot of children that were displaced and therefore we are opening our school system to accommodate them,” Dr Minnis said. “Our immigration minister will deal with that matter so that they can be placed within our school system and, of course, I plead to Bahamians, especially with Dominican roots and Bahamians in general, to assist, and even accommodate these individuals in the private schools.”
Dr Minnis added: “I am not sure, (but I think) we have a lot of individuals out there who will assist in accommodating these individuals, both financially and otherwise.
“After all, we are a caring nation and this is our time to display and show that. Then there are a lot of Dominicans here who would also have families there, and, therefore, we will accommodate those individuals also.”
Comments
Well_mudda_take_sic 7 years, 1 month ago
Repost: Rumours are circulating that the PM of Dominica would like for the Bahamas to accommodate up to 3,000 displaced students from Dominica. We simply do not have the resources to do this! Also, a good many of these students lost in hurricanes Irma and Maria their travel ID documents that Bahamas Immigration would ordinarily require, e.g. original passport, original or certified birth certificate, etc. etc. Without such documents, we could end up letting into our school system individuals who were illegal immigrant students in Dominica. It is worth pointing out that Dominica is one of those countries that puts a very low price tag on the sale of its own citizenship to foreigners as indicated in the excerpt below from Wikipedia. We need to tread very carefully here!
"The Commonwealth of Dominica offers an official and legally mandated economic citizenship to those seeking a valid second passport. The nationality law of Dominica authorises the government to waive the normal requirement of seven years of legal residence to acquire citizenship in exchange for a cash contribution. Total costs excluding all fees for a single applicant are US$100,000, with a discount for additional passports for spouses and children. Alternatively, since 2014, applicants can make a US$200,000 real estate investment, in which case the cost of citizenship is US$50,000. According to officials, the citizenship programme was an economic and fiscal "lifeline" in the aftermath of Tropical Storm Erika, and its new investment option had become the main source of Foreign Direct Investment into Dominica by early 2016. The Dominica passport holders can travel without a visa, or obtain a visa upon entry, to over 100 countries and territories, including the United Kingdom and the Schengen zone. Applying for Dominica citizenship requires interacting with official Government Approved Economic Citizenship Agents."
licks2 7 years, 1 month ago
Well modder sic. . .the DNA really getting more stupider as the day go by!! RUNNING ON ABOUT SOMETHING THAT YOU DON'T KNOW ABOUT. . .I recommend a trip to Dominica. . .I have done so. . .you need to see what is going on there before you compare apples to oranges. . . also you need to understand the exchange rate and dollar value of that nation to understand!
In that nation one US $50 dollars is worth approximately 500 EC dollars. . .the currency of Dominica. Do the maths. . .just imagine! When I was in that area I got to stay at an exclusive manor house that cost nearly $500 EC dollars a night. . .which costed me $45 US! Plus. . .this economic cost is 2014. . .they had one from 1989. . .I was there then. . .and the Chinese has established a strong economic presence in the Island. . .one of the most modern community on the Island was developed by the Chinese. . .DNA do ya dang homework. . .or just shut the hell up. . .please! Google some things before ya run off at the mouth! Yall are closer to becoming the government than yinna ever been before. . .I suggest that yinna start acting like yinna are going to be. . .drop the stupid "old style" politics. . ."ween on dat run" no more!
MonkeeDoo 7 years, 1 month ago
How in this round world does the DNA, after being so roundly rejected by the populace, have any authority to demand anything from anyone. The Bahamas will never be more that a two party country. Bran thought he could create a party to knock the FNM off its perch instead of working withing the party where he might have now been Prime Minister. Very poor judgement, But the rest of the DNA peeps should go stand in line behind the active people in the PLP and FNM. Otherwise you are just clanging cymbols.
CatIslandBoy 7 years, 1 month ago
Is the DNA still relevant?
licks2 7 years, 1 month ago
They are. . .the PLP will never rise again in this nation. . .they have gone the way of the UBP. . .after the UBP was exposed for all the corrupt activities they engaged in. . .look at that party. . .criminal greed is endemic of their group. . .nation wrecking greed!! The DNA. . .without Bran is the only relevant party beside doc and his group for the people on the streets!
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