The small island of Dominica has been pacing up with the aim to become the first climate-resilient nation. To turn the aim into the reality, the island is significantly investing in building climate-resilient infrastructure.
The government has hosted the commissioning of the emergency hurricane shelters in the region of Castle Bruce and Jimmit on Wednesday, May 25, 2022. The commissioning of these shelters was taken place ahead of the 2022 Atlantic Hurricane Season approaching the country on June 1.
Prime Minister of Dominica, Dr Roosevelt Skerrit, has mentioned the significance of these emergency hurricane shelters and added that it would help the government strengthen its response towards natural disasters.
These steps will also help in making the nation strong to increase its ability to withstand against any natural calamities.
The resilience against Hurricanes and Tropical Storms will help the country to build back better.
Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit also stressed that after facing wrecked by Hurricane Maria in 2017, the government of Dominica stepped into various developmental strategies which could build the country into a better place and strengthen the aim of the climate-resilient infrastructure.
Further, the construction of these shelters started in mid-September 2020.
Moreover, these facilities will also assist the government and country in building significant Hurricane disaster preparedness, which will allow them to become resilient.
The total cost of constructing these Hurricane shelters is about $32 million. Jimmie and Castle Bruce are the facilities costing 18 million and 14million, respectively.
As per the government, the emergency shelter in Jimmit has the capacity to shelter around 500 and Castle Bruce will provide shelter to about 300 individuals.
The European Union (EU) financially assisted the government of Dominica in its effort to build climate-resilient shelters which can withstand any natural calamities.
Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit also stated that Dominica will be getting assistance from the European Union to build additional emergency shelters in Kalinago Territory, Grand Bay, Portsmouth, and La Plaine. He also stated that regional centres will be constructed in Marigot Western area.
Besides this, the Citizenship by Investment Programme of Dominica is helping the country build back better as the majority of development projects are supported by the country’s CBI Programme. The government of Dominica is heavily investing in socio-economic growth and constructing climate-resilient homes, roads, bridges, schools, hospitals, as well as the international airport using the funds generated through the CBI Programme.
The citizenship by investment programme has been working as a catalyst for the development activities in Dominica. Launched in 1993, it is the world’s fastest, safest, most secure and transparent economic citizenship programme in the world and is recognized for its multi-layered due-diligence checks on applicants.
The CBI Programme of Dominica is ranked number one in the world for five consecutive years by the CBI Index published by the Financial Times’ Professional Wealth Management (PWM) magazine.
The government of Dominica emphasizes its applicants’ overall integrity and ensures the applicants’ credibility by hiring renowned independent third-party agencies to perform due diligence checks. The comprehensive scrutinization helps ensure that only the people with outstanding character are accepted as economic citizens in the country.
The candidates who are interested in applying for alternative citizenship of Dominica can invest through two investment options – Economic Diversification Fund (EDF) and Real Estate.
Economic Diversification Fund (EDF) – The applicants can apply for the alternative citizenship of Dominica through EDF. This fund option provides assistance to socio-economic initiatives, including the construction of climate-resilient homes, health centres, schools, playgrounds, and more.
Minimum Investment: USD 100,000
Real Estate – The applicant has to purchase a Government-approved property to invest under the real-estate option.
Minimum investment: USD 200,000
Dominica, also known as the Nature Isle of the Caribbean is a land with beautiful and mesmerizing nature gems. Dominica is one of the best travel destinations with 365 rivers, unnumbered waterfalls and the world’s second-largest hot spring – the boiling lake.
Over the years, the country faced massive destruction caused by multiple natural disasters, including Tropical Strom- Erika, Hurricane Irma and Hurricane Maria.
The category five hurricane Maria damaged 90 percent of the country’s infrastructure and changed its entire fate.
After this tragedy induced by Hurricane Maria, PM Roosevelt Skerrit pledged to make Dominica the “world’s first climate-resilient nation”, which led to the establishment of the Climate Execution Agency for Dominica (CREAD). Following this, the Cabinet of Dominica gave a green signal to the Disaster Resilience Strategy as an Annex to the Climate Resilience and Recovery Plan (CRRP).
