The main opposition United Progressive Party (UPP) of Dominica has issued a formal challenge to the ruling administration, demanding the immediate public release of full contractual documents for three of the island nation’s largest ongoing infrastructure projects. In an official statement released July 7, 2026, UPP leader Joshua Francis framed the call for disclosure as a critical step to boost governmental accountability and rebuild public trust in national development initiatives.
The three projects at the center of the demand collectively represent hundreds of millions of dollars in foreign and domestic investment, and are expected to reshape Dominica’s economic trajectory, environmental landscape, and long-term public finances for coming generations. They include a new international airport, being developed by a partnership between Montreal Management Consultants (MMC) and China Railway No. 5 Engineering Group (CR5); a mountain cable car project awarded to Austria’s Doppelmayr Group in collaboration with local firm ABL Holdings; and the Cabrits Marina resort development, led by Range Developments, with a yet-unidentified international operator set to take over management once construction is complete.
While the Skerrit government has repeatedly shared public updates on construction timelines and touted the expected tourism and job growth benefits of the projects, UPP argues that all core details of the binding contractual agreements have been deliberately kept hidden from the Dominican public and national legislature. The opposition says this lack of openness has fueled widespread public suspicion of secretive “sweetheart deals” that could prioritize private developer interests over the public good, with no parliamentary oversight to guard against mismanagement of national assets and public funds.
According to the UPP statement, Dominican citizens hold a fundamental right to access a full range of unredacted contract details: the exact financial obligations the government has committed to under each deal, any tax concessions, sovereign guarantees or other favorable terms granted to developers, the full documentation of the procurement process used to award the multi-million contracts, whether independent cost-benefit analyses were completed before approval, the binding performance standards and penalty clauses for contractors, and a full accounting of long-term fiscal risks for the state.
“Transparency is not an obstacle to development—it is the foundation of public trust,” the party said in its statement.
The UPP has laid out four clear demands for the government: publish unredacted full contracts and all subsequent amendments for the three projects, release complete records of the procurement processes for each award, share detailed public and parliamentary reports that outline full project financing, binding contractual obligations and long-term public liabilities, and establish a permanent policy of proactive disclosure for all future large-scale public infrastructure contracts.
Party leaders were careful to clarify that the request for transparency does not amount to opposition to the projects themselves. The UPP says it fully supports sustainable national development, but only when that development is rooted in the principles of transparency, accountability, and rule of law.
“The people of Dominica deserve more than announcements and ceremonial groundbreaking events. They deserve access to the agreements that will shape the country’s future and determine how public resources are managed,” the statement read.
Concluding its address, the party emphasized: “Good governance demands openness. Democracy demands accountability.” The UPP reaffirmed its longstanding commitment to protecting the rights and interests of all Dominican citizens, and will continue pushing for greater integrity and openness across all branches of government.