A landslide that struck the AuDelices Road in southeastern Dominica over the weekend has amplified long-simmering community demands for the full restoration of a critical alternate route that has been partially complete for more than a decade after being destroyed by a major tropical storm. The event has exposed the vulnerabilities of limited transportation access in the region, impacting both local residents and the island’s key tourism sector.
According to official statements from Dominica’s Ministry of Public Works, the landslide occurred late Saturday night, blocking the AuDelices Road and disrupting safe vehicle passage through the area. Fortunately, no injuries were reported in connection with the incident. By Sunday afternoon, heavy equipment had been mobilized to clear tonnes of rock and debris from the roadway, and authorities confirmed that driving access had been restored, though motorists are still being advised to proceed with extreme caution and plan for potential delays.
Thomson Fontaine, leader of the island’s opposition United Workers Party (UWP), shared on-site updates Sunday via social media, noting that roughly a dozen tourists traveling through the area had to be rerouted before the road was cleared. Fontaine also claimed that a number of visitors who had planned trips to the nearby Rosalie region opted to cancel their flights and hotel reservations amid travel uncertainty caused by the landslide, dealing a fresh blow to the local tourism economy already strained by unreliable infrastructure.
This latest landslide comes as communities in southeastern Dominica have continued to push for the full restoration of the Petite Savanne-Delices link road, a critical connection that was completely destroyed when Tropical Storm Erika hit the island in 2015. The storm also displaced the majority of residents in Petite Savanne and left the region with drastically limited travel options between neighboring communities. Almost immediately after the storm, the government pledged to restore full vehicular access to the area, and incremental progress has been reported over the intervening years.
In April 2024, government officials noted that preliminary road clearing operations had cost roughly $2.6 million, while construction of the replacement Bagatelle Bridge ran to $2.5 million, with full reconstruction of the route through Petite Savanne set to follow mobilization. By January 2025, Public Works Minister Jullan Defoe announced that construction was ongoing, and that vehicles were already able to traverse the unfinished route, even though it had not yet received a formal official opening. However, more than 11 years after the storm destroyed the original road, the connection remains incomplete.
Local community advocates have long highlighted the severe impacts of the lost connection on daily life in southeastern Dominica. A Change.org petition launched in November 2022 by Debra Charles-Mark, on behalf of area communities, framed the incomplete road restoration as an urgent public issue affecting healthcare access, school attendance, employment opportunities, emergency response times, and delivery of essential goods. The petition also outlines how the current limited route forces longer travel times, creating cascading economic and social harm for local residents.
Charles-Mark updated the petition within hours of Sunday’s landslide, reporting that minor rockfall was still occurring in the area as of Sunday morning, and reiterated calls for the immediate full reopening of the Petite Savanne-Delices link road. The petition argues that restoring this connection would provide a much-needed alternate route for communities in the southeast, reducing overreliance on the geologically vulnerable AuDelices Road and mitigating the risk of future travel disruptions. In the wake of this latest landslide, the petition update calls on authorities to publish a clear official timeline for the link road’s completion, conduct full geotechnical risk assessments of all affected travel routes, and maintain safe alternate access for residents while construction is finalized.
While the government has repeatedly reaffirmed its commitment to completing the Petite Savanne-Delices link road, the continued partial status of the project, paired with this latest disruptive landslide, has underscored the urgency of addressing the region’s infrastructure gaps. Community leaders and opposition figures alike are now doubling down on calls for accelerated progress to improve transportation safety and reliability for both local residents and visitors to Dominica’s scenic southeastern coast.