标签： Dominica

In a formal announcement held at the Alliance Française this Thursday, veteran Dominican healthcare professional Martha Augustus accepted the United Workers Party (UWP) nomination to stand as its candidate for the Roseau South Constituency ahead of upcoming elections. With a tone grounded in humility and clear sense of purpose, Augustus framed her candidacy as a response to unmet needs across the constituency and the nation at large.

Augustus brings nearly 15 years of on-the-ground experience as a pharmacist serving communities across Dominica. Raised in Newtown from the age of four before pursuing higher education abroad, she made the deliberate choice to reject the stability of life in the diaspora, returning home with a stated mission to lift up and advocate for her fellow citizens.

Explaining her decision to run with the UWP, Augustus drew on her frontline experience in healthcare that has given her an unfiltered view of the daily hardships facing Dominican families. Over her career, she has walked alongside hundreds of households through crisis, hearing countless stories of financial strain, sacrifice, and unfulfilled hope. She has witnessed firsthand the devastating impact of drug abuse on Dominican youth, noting that too many promising young lives have been destroyed, leaving helpless families to cope with the aftermath.

Beyond the drug crisis, Augustus argued that current national leadership lacks a coherent, forward-thinking vision for youth development and children’s cultural programming. She emphasized that this gap has created a quiet crisis that demands urgent action, noting that young Dominicans desperately need targeted support and investment to secure their futures.

Augustus argued that the current administration’s lack of long-term foresight has put Dominica’s future at substantial risk. Positioning herself as a people-centered advocate, she pledged to be a reliable voice for Roseau South that prioritizes the needs of ordinary constituents over political interests. She stressed that residents of the constituency, and all Dominicans, deserve far better than the status quo: a responsive government that listens to public concerns, makes strategic plans for long-term growth, and expands economic and social opportunities for every citizen, regardless of background.

Ending her remarks with a call for change, Augustus urged voters to support her and the UWP, led by party head Dr. Thomson Fontaine, to deliver the new direction Dominica needs. “I am ready to start with you, to speak for you, and to be the trusted voice Roseau South has been missing,” she said.

At a Wednesday press conference hosted at Roseau’s iconic Fort Young Hotel, Christine Dupuis-Dubique, the Team Unity Dominica (TUD) candidate running for the Paix Bouche and Calibishie Constituency seat, laid out a sweeping set of proposals to uplift the island nation’s healthcare workforce and improve care access for all Dominican patients.

Dupuis-Dubique centered her remarks on the urgent need to prioritize frontline healthcare workers, who she argues have long been undervalued by the current administration. She outlined five core pillars of workplace reform that her team would advance if elected: equitable competitive compensation, safer minimum staffing ratios to prevent worker burnout, full and fair work allowances, sustained access to continuing professional education, and transparent, merit-based pathways for career advancement.

The candidate specifically highlighted gaps in support for entry-level public health aides and other workers who enter the field through Dominica’s National Employment Program (NEP). Far too many of these early-career professionals are stuck in temporary, precarious roles with no clear path forward, she explained. To address this, Dupuis-Dubique called for standardized formal training, clearly outlined role expectations, consistent professional supervision, industry-recognized certification for entry-level staff, and structured roadmaps that connect entry-level work to long-term career growth in the healthcare sector.

A key signature policy Dupuis-Dubique proposed is the establishment of a national Dominica Health Professional Return and Retention Program. The initiative is designed to reverse the ongoing brain drain that has siphoned off many of the island’s most talented healthcare workers to overseas roles. Under the plan, the government would create specialized, meaningful roles for returning clinicians, formally recognize professional experience gained outside Dominica, provide financial and logistical support for relocation, and offer competitive compensation packages that encourage domestic healthcare workers to build their careers on the island instead of seeking opportunities abroad.

“Every healthcare worker on our island deserves the chance to grow professionally, and every Dominican patient deserves access to safe, high-quality care when they need it,” Dupuis-Dubique emphasized, adding that improving working conditions for staff is directly tied to improving care outcomes for the public.

Beyond workforce reforms, the candidate also called for urgent investment in emergency medical infrastructure, specifically the deployment of a fully operational mobile emergency care unit. She stressed that the unit must be stocked with fully functional, well-maintained medical equipment to ensure it can deliver life-saving care to communities across the constituency when called on.

As the Caribbean nation of Dominica prepares for its annual budget presentation scheduled for August 4, Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit has publicly committed that addressing the rising cost of living will be the centerpiece of the 2026-2027 national budget, delivered against a backdrop of widespread global economic instability.

In pre-budget remarks to the public, Skerrit stressed that the current cost pressures facing Dominican households are not unique to the small island nation. He traced the root of inflationary pressures to a series of uncontrollable external shocks rippling through the global economy, from heightened geopolitical tensions across the globe to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. These disruptions have strained global supply chains, driving up freight costs and insurance premiums for international shipping lines — increases that are ultimately passed directly to end consumers, pushing up prices for everyday goods on store shelves nationwide.

Skerrit recalled that his administration has already worked to offset growing living costs for citizens by implementing favorable tax policies designed to leave more disposable income in workers’ paychecks and household budgets. However, he acknowledged that many of these existing relief measures have flown under the radar for most Dominican people.

Looking ahead to the upcoming budget announcement, the prime minister teased sweeping, progressive policy changes that will deliver tangible reductions in the price of consumer goods and other daily expenses. He confirmed that the reforms will include a dramatic restructuring of Dominica’s national tax system, designed to ease financial burdens for ordinary citizens.

Beyond cost-of-living relief, Skerrit noted that the budget address will also provide updates on ongoing public infrastructure and development projects across the country, outlining their long-term benefits for Dominica’s economic future. A key additional focus of the presentation will be a transparent, public accounting of the country’s popular Citizenship By Investment (CBI) program, which has long been a core pillar of Dominica’s economic strategy.

The pre-budget announcement comes as governments around the world continue to grapple with persistent post-pandemic inflation and external economic disruptions that have eroded household purchasing power, making cost-of-living relief a top political and policy priority for national leaders across the globe.