Bernard Hurtault, Political Leader of the Dominica Freedom Party (DFP), has issued a scathing condemnation of the government’s handling of mining operations in the Deux Branche area, accusing authorities of systematic failure in environmental oversight. The statement highlights what Hurtault describes as “brazen” operations by a foreign construction company with apparent government complicity, suggesting that official guardrails against reckless state action have been deliberately dismantled.
The DFP leader questioned the conspicuous silence from key regulatory bodies including the Environmental Health Department and Ministry of Forestry, Wildlife, and Parks, noting the absence of any institutional voice from an elected government tasked with safeguarding the nation’s natural resources. In response to what he termed “deafening silence,” Hurtault declared the party’s alignment with citizen protests against the ongoing environmental degradation.
Government responses defending the project by citing completed environmental assessments were dismissed as “defensive posturing” and “textbook examples” of prioritizing illusions over outcomes. Hurtault emphasized that environmental impact assessments become meaningless when recommended mitigation measures are ignored or when projects proceed despite clear ecological warnings.
The statement raised fundamental questions about accountability in Dominica’s rule-of-law society, suggesting that the company’s operations with government backing imply either primitive governance standards or deliberate evasion of accountability. The DFP explicitly rejected this notion, demanding immediate public release of the original Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and calling for complete cessation of open-pit mining in Deux Branche pending independent review.
Hurtault warned against box-ticking exercises and demanded concrete action plans, describing current operations as “nothing short of an environmental catastrophe.” The party leader condemned the philosophical approach that means justify ends, particularly in the context of building an international airport for eco-tourism while simultaneously presenting visitors with silted rivers, stripped hillsides, and dying forests. The statement concluded with a call to build the nation on principles respecting human dignity, life, and the natural environment that makes Dominica unique.