Dominica – Go Lean…Caribbean

Tag: Dominica

Caribbean Unity? Need French Antilles

Posted on August 29, 2018 in Government, Locations, Strategy

Go Lean Commentary

Bedrock, Baby!

This is the lesson being learned in San Francisco for the new Salesforce Tower: If you’re going to build a skyscraper, make sure it has a good foundation. While a building can go up with a weak foundation, there will be structural problems along the way. See Appendix VIDEO for the story of the Millennium Tower sinking, and leaning.

This is an important lesson for the Caribbean; there is a need for integration, consolidation and collaboration among the Caribbean member-states. But, we need a good foundation; we need full participation from all the neighbors (Dutch, English, French and Spanish speaking islands). Just look at this photo here, depicting that the French Antilles territories of Guadeloupe and Martinique are “next door” to English-speaking Caribbean island nation-states:

(The island of Saint Martin is shared as a French territory and Dutch territory – this is considered a legal condominium; St Bartholomew is also on the list of current French Caribbean islands; but French Guiana – on the South American mainland next to Suriname completes the list of French territories; Haiti gained independence from France in 1804).

This is the assertion of the movement behind the book Go Lean … Caribbean. This book declares that Caribbean regional governance is deficient and inadequate; there must be a regional integration that integrates the entire region. Yes, the existing Caribbean Community (CariCom) integration effort without the French territories is like building a skyscraper on a shaky foundation. What a skyscraper really needs is: Bedrock, Baby!

What Caribbean integration really needs is: Complete participation of all the neighbors in the neighborhood.

This is the purpose of this commentary, to lament the inadequacies because of Caribbean disunity. This is the continued focus of this series of commentaries on the joke (absurdity) of the premise that there is some Caribbean unity; this is a mirage. This submission is 3 of 4 from the Go Lean movement. The urging is that the full Caribbean – all 30 member-states – must confederate and consolidate; otherwise our communities will not thrive, maybe, not even survive. The assessment is that the prior attempts of nation-building – without some sort of alliance – is just a joke!

The other commentaries in the series are cataloged as follows:

Caribbean Unity? What a joke – Tourism Missteps
Caribbean Unity? – Ross University Saga
Caribbean Unity? – No Freedom of Movement in/out of French Antilles
Caribbean Unity? – Religion’s Role: False Friend

All of these commentaries relate to “how” the stewards for a new Caribbean can finally foster unity in this region. The previous formal exercises in regional integration were flawed at the foundation; this includes the current Caribbean Community or CariCom plus the previous attempt among the English-speaking islands: the disastrous West Indies Federation, and the attempt in the Dutch-speaking islands, the now-defunct Netherlands Antilles. These many iterations ignored the bedrock foundational principle of: Liberty, Equality and Fraternity.

Those 3 principles sound familiar …

Yes, they are the values of the French Revolutionary movement. This is relevant because the French are also among the World Powers that discovered, exploited and colonized the Caribbean. To this day, they claim the afore-mentioned 4 territories in the region.

This commentary is not a criticism of the French eco-system or history, except for calling out their failure to integrate with their Caribbean neighbors. The country of France was always front-and-center in the enlightenment movement as their Declaration of the Rights of the Man and of the Citizen of 1789, together with Magna Carta, the English Bill of Rights, and the United States Bill of Rights, inspired in large part the 1948 United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights.^[4]

Human rights – or Liberty, Equality and Fraternity – does not fit the description of colonies in these French Antilles. They are being administered remotely from Metropolitan France (Paris) rather than exercising autonomy to partner with their next door neighbors. As a result of this failing, we have no Freedom of Movement between the French Antilles and their neighbors – but there is Freedom of Movement in the European Union (and the Schengen Area). See the plight highlighted in this news story:

Title # 1: Dominican family facing expulsion from Martinique
A Dominican family of nine have been threatened with expulsion from Martinique, one year after fleeing there in the aftermath of hurricane Maria, local news reports have said.

The family, seven children and their parents, have been asked to leave Martinique this Thursday, August 16, 2018, according to Martinique 1Ere.

The online publication said the Dominican immigrants have all been living at the home of the children’s grandmother in the community of Prêcheur.

However, since arriving in Martinique the visitors could not obtain a residence permit and must leave Martinique for their native Dominica, Martinique 1Ere reported.

The Mayor of the area, Marcellin Nadeau, is reportedly opposed to the expulsion and has cited the historical links of the community with Dominicans.

Hurricane Maria blasted across Dominica on the night of September 18, 2017, with torrential rain and gusts of some 160 mph.

Damage to the Island was estimated at over $EC 2 billion and some one fifth of the population is said to have sought refuge in other countries in the aftermath of the storm.
Source: St. Lucia Times – posted August 15, 2018; retrieved August 29, 2018 from: https://stluciatimes.com/2018/08/15/dominican-family-facing-expulsion-from-martinique/

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Title # 2: Martinique: Supporters mobilise against expulsion of Dominican family
Residents of the community of Prêcheur in Martinique Friday morning began mobilising to prevent the expulsion of a Dominican family, local news reports say.

The nine Dominicans had sought refuge in the French overseas territory following the passage of Hurricane Maria, which devastated Dominica last year.

According to Martinique 1 Ere, since 6:30 Friday morning, several inhabitants of Prêcheur, began mobilising to prevent the departure of Durand family.

The family, seven children and their parents, had been living with the children’s grandmother in Martinique for the past year.

They were due to leave Martinique Friday because they do not have a residence permit.

Local news reports said the family made several attempts to obtain the permit but failed to do so.

They were originally due to leave on Thursday, August 16, but the authorities gave them a few more hours to prepare for their departure, it was reported.

Residents of the community where the visitors have been staying have stated their intention to block access to the port at Fort de France to prevent the Dominicans from leaving, Martinique 1 Ere has reported.

The online publication quoted lawyer, Camille Célénice, as saying that a request for a residence permit must be filed Friday morning in the presence of the Mayor of Prêcheur, Marcellin Nadeau.

Nadeau is reported to be opposed to the move to expel the Dominican family, citing the historical links of the town with its neighbours from Dominica.
Source: St. Lucia Times – posted August 17, 2018; retrieved August 29, 2018 from: https://stluciatimes.com/2018/08/17/martinique-supporters-mobilise-against-expulsion-of-dominican-family/

It is apparent from this article, that refuge-seekers from hurricane-damaged areas seek refuge in their neighborhoods, first. It is only logical that displaced people will only want to move the shortest distances possible. If your island is only 40 miles away, then despite the divergent colonial heritage, that proximity overrides any cultural affinity.

Culture can move and adapt to a land; a land cannot move and adapt to a culture.

The Go Lean book serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU), an intergovernmental entity to empower all of the Caribbean member-states – the independent and dependent territories. This new regime for the Caribbean needs the islands in the French Antilles. But, the French Antilles need the CU, too. Accordingly, there is a lot of discord in those lands; see this opening anecdote from the Go Lean book on Page 17:

Anecdote # 3

French Caribbean – Organization & Discord

The terms French Caribbean, French West Indies or French Antilles all refer to the five territories currently under French sovereignty in the Antilles islands and related areas of the Caribbean. There are two organizational types:

1. Overseas departments are constituencies of France that are outside metropolitan France. They have the same political status as metropolitan departments. As integral parts of France and the European Union, overseas departments are represented in the National Assembly, Senate, and Economic and Social Council, vote to elect European Parliament (MEP), and also use the Euro as their currency. Under the 1946 Constitution of the Fourth Republic, the French colonies were defined as overseas departments. Since 1982, following the French government’s policy of decentralization, overseas departments have elected regional councils with powers similar to those of the regions of metropolitan France. As a result of a constitutional revision that occurred in 2003, these regions are now to be called overseas regions; though there is no difference in relevance or function.

o Guadeloupe (Basse-Terre & Grande-Terre); plus dependencies: Les Saintes, Marie-Galante, La Désirade
o Martinique
o French Guiana – actually on the South America mainland

2. Overseas collectivities are first-order administrative divisions of France. These constitute some former French overseas territories and other French overseas entities with a particular status, all of which became collectivities by constitutional reform on 28 March 2003. For the Caribbean, they include:

o Saint Martin – the northern part of the island shared with a Dutch Territory
o Saint Barthélemy

There is recent history of discord in the French Caribbean. Saint Barthélemy has a more developed and prosperous economy than its previous administrative “big brother” Guadeloupe. Duty-free port attractions, retail trade, high-end tourism and its luxury hotels/villas have increased that island’s standard of living for its citizens, even exceeding metropolitan France. Plus, unlike most Caribbean islands, the population of Saint “Barths” is mostly of European ancestry. With the 2003 constitutional reforms, the populations of the French territories of Saint Barthélemy and Saint Martin were given the choice to remain within France or alter their status; they voted in favor of secession from Guadeloupe and to form separate overseas collectivities of France. In July 2007, these island communes were officially detached from Guadeloupe and became two separate French overseas collectivities with their own local administration and own deputies in the French National Assembly and Senate.

There is also discord in Guadeloupe and Martinique. The average salary in Guadeloupe is lower than in mainland France while the unemployment and poverty rates on both islands are double those found in metropolitan France; these islands suffered the 2nd and 3rd highest unemployment rates in the European Union (2007), and #1 in youth unemployment.

In January/February 2009, an umbrella group of approximately fifty labor unions and other associations called for a €200 ($260 USD) monthly pay increase for Guadeloupe and Martinique’s low income workers. The protesters had proposed that authorities “lower business taxes as a top up to company finances” to pay for the €200 pay raises. Employers and business leaders in Guadeloupe had said that they could not afford the salary increase. The strike lasted 44 days, during the high season, and escalated to “the verge of revolt”, finally ending with an accord in March 2009 in which the French government agreed to raise the salaries of the lowest paid by the requested €200 and granted the petitioners top 20 demands. Tourism suffered greatly during this time and affected the 2010 tourist season as well; the islands were believed to have lost millions of dollars in tourism revenues due to cancelled vacations and closed hotels. The strikes exposed deep ethnic, racial, and class tensions and disparities – discord – within the French Caribbean territories.

<—————————->

Hurricanes are a serious threat for Caribbean life. This is true for the French Caribbean as well. There is nothing that Paris can do to eliminate the threat! (Notwithstanding the COP 21 Paris Accords to mitigate Greenhouse Gases to retard the effects of Climate Change).

All the Caribbean must band together to cope. This includes all islands of all colonial heritage. This was the opening declaration in the Go Lean book (Page 5), quoting the lyrics of the popular 1970 song “Lean On Me”:

Second Verse
If there is a load you have to bear
That you can’t carry
I’m right up the road
I’ll share your load
If you just call me

The current governance in the Caribbean is inadequate for dealing with the challenges of Climate Change; this is affecting all facets of our society: economics, security and governance. Rather than an intra-island focus, all these lands need to look to the full region and then convene, consolidate, collude, confederate and collaborate with each other to make the homelands better places to live, work and play. A regional construct is the focus of the technocratic CU; it is designed to shepherd the economic engines, while also guarding against all security challenges – including preparation and response for natural disasters.

The Go Lean/CU roadmap will employ strategies, tactics and implementations to impact its prime directives; identified with the following 3 statements:

Optimize the economic engines in order to grow the regional economy to $800 Billion & create 2.2 million new jobs.
Establish a security apparatus to ensure public safety and protect the resultant economic engines.
Improve Caribbean governance to support these engines, including a separation-of-powers between the member-states and CU federal agencies, including Self-Governing Entities.

This directive transcends national borders, languages or culture. It just delivers …

This was always the hope for the Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME), the initiative spurred by CariCom; but it never delivered. This new regime embraces the spirit of CariCom – the need for integration – but with an execution foundation that goes down to the bedrock.

The book Go Lean…Caribbean – available to download for free – opened with an honest assessment there must be a regional interdependence. This assessment was pronounced in the opening Declaration of Interdependence (Pages 12 – 13):

i. Whereas the earth’s climate has undeniably changed resulting in more severe tropical weather storms, it is necessary to prepare to insure the safety and security of life, property and systems of commerce in our geographical region. As nature recognizes no borders in the target of its destruction, we also must set aside border considerations in the preparation and response to these weather challenges.

xi. Whereas all men are entitled to the benefits of good governance in a free society, “new guards” must be enacted to dissuade the emergence of incompetence, corruption, nepotism and cronyism at the peril of the people’s best interest. The Federation must guarantee the executions of a social contract between government and the governed.

xvi. Whereas security of our homeland is inextricably linked to prosperity of the homeland, the economic and security interest of the region needs to be aligned under the same governance. Since economic crimes … can imperil the functioning of the wheels of commerce for all the citizenry, the accedence of this Federation must equip the security apparatus with the tools and techniques for predictive and proactive interdictions.

xxiv. Whereas a free market economy can be induced and spurred for continuous progress, the Federation must install the controls to better manage aspects of the economy: jobs, inflation, savings rate, investments and other economic principles. Thereby attracting direct foreign investment because of the stability and vibrancy of our economy.

The Go Lean book provides 370-pages of turn-by-turn instructions on “how” to adopt new community ethos, plus the strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies to execute so as to transform the Caribbean society, even the French Antilles. Consider the Chapter excerpts and headlines from this sample on Page 239 entitled:

10 Ways to Impact French Territories

1	Lean-in for Caribbean Integration The CU will allow for the unification of the region into one market, thereby creating a single economy of 30 member-states for 42 million people with the scale to effect change; the CU does not involve sovereignty. The treaty includes the French Overseas Territories of Guadeloupe, Martinique, Saint Martin and Saint Barthélemy, but not French Guiana initially. Though France is one of the biggest economies, French economic prosperity has not always extended to these islands
2	Trading Partners based on Nature not Politics One original motive of French colonialism was the facilitation of trade. That need is even more pronounced now. But with the changes of globalization, technology and the demographic regionalization it is more fitting to trade with neighbors, based on natural location, rather than political alignment. The CU extends that push with this Trade Federation.
3	Homeland Security Pact – NATO style
4	Disaster Preparation & Response Mother Nature, and the reality of hurricanes, plays no favorites for one island versus another due to political alliance. The CU will better plan/prepare/respond, with a professional Emergency Management Agency and recover with elite financial products (i.e. reinsurance sidecars) powered by capital markets to restore economic engines in the islands.
5	Caribbean Dollar and the Caribbean Central Bank
6	Emigration Circuit Breaker
7	EU Participants
8	Cruise Line Collective Bargaining
9	Paris Hand-off / Proxy
10	Host Country Entitlements

The Caribbean must foster a better homeland that allows for Free Movement of People … and also better disaster preparation and response. This Go Lean movement has previously detailed many related issues and advocacies for the French Caribbean and their full participation in this regional construct; consider this sample of previous blog-commentaries:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=13319	Making a ‘Pluralistic Democracy’ – Freedom of Movement
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=12581	State of the Union – Annexation: French Guiana
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=11287	Creating a Legacy in Pro-Surfing in Martinique
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=10554	Welcoming the French
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=10043	Caribbean Integration Plan for Greater Prosperity
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=382	Guadeloupe, Martinique, St Maarten Join the ACS

The reasons why people abandon a beloved homeland is due to 2 reasons: “push” and “pull” factors. “Push” would refer to the resultant deficient infrastructure forcing stakeholders to abandon the community, and “pull” would refer to the perception that there are better economic opportunities elsewhere. The French Antilles have many of the same problems as the rest of the Caribbean. Societal defects abound, to the point that many of the people – and institutions – flee their homelands. This is true even more so right after a disastrous storm – a “push” factor. In the foregoing news articles, the displacement drama was associated with the aftermath of Category 5 Hurricane Maria in Dominica. Since all Caribbean member-states are “in the same boat”, all territories-countries should “pick up an oar” and collaborate on solutions.

(The absolute latest news on this Dominican family: Stay of Execution on Deportation – https://stluciatimes.com/2018/08/29/martinique-decision-pending-on-expulsion-of-dominican-family/).

In summary, the Go Lean roadmap seeks to reboot and relaunch the integration effort. But this time, with all Caribbean member-states (30), not just the English-speaking, but partnering with the French Antilles and Spanish-speaking states as well. Due to our Climate Change realities, our region must reform and transform the Caribbean’s societal engines so as to better allow for our tropical realities.

Let’s be better – together.

All Caribbean stakeholders – including European governments (i.e. France and The Netherlands) – are urged to lean-in to this roadmap for change … and empowerment. We need “all hands on deck” to make this region a better place to live work and play. 🙂

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

Sign the petition to lean-in for this roadmap for the Caribbean Union Trade Federation.

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Appendix VIDEO – The Leaning Tower of San Francisco – https://youtu.be/qKtlZc-u9TU

Published on November 5, 2017 – The Millennium Tower opened to great acclaim with high-priced, posh apartments. But those accolades and property values are sinking, along with the building’s foundation. No Bedrock! Jon Wertheim reports.

See full story here: https://www.cbs.com/shows/60_minutes/video/nn9f_o573SfUTgnxuseZn5qbLYNtHCQI/the-leaning-tower-of-san-francisco/

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Disaster, Dominica, EU, French, Model

Caribbean Unity? Ross University Saga

Posted on August 28, 2018 in Government, Implementation, Locations

Go Lean Commentary

¹¹Again, if two lie down together, they will keep warm; but how can one keep warm alone? ¹²And though one may be overpowered, two can resist. Moreover, a cord of three strands is not quickly broken. – The Bible Ecclesiastes 4:11 – 12 Berean Study Bible

It is so unfortunate that these Caribbean islands think that they are … “islands”. Didn’t they ever hear:

‘No man is an island’? – English metaphysical poet John Donne (1572-1631)
The phrase ‘no man is an island‘ expresses the idea that human beings do badly when isolated from others and need to be part of a community in order to thrive. Donne was a Christian but this concept is shared by other religions, principally Buddhism.

These islands do acknowledge that there are other islands, but rather than cooperating and collaborating together, the strategy seems to be limited to just competition – “It’s Better in … “

This is the continued focus of this series of commentaries on Caribbean [dis]unity. This submission is 2 of 4 from the movement behind the book Go Lean … Caribbean – is in consideration of the societal defects in the region that prevents us from banding together. We do not reform nor transform like other communities; we do not confederate nor consolidate; we somehow think that we are better than our neighbors and can survive alone. What a joke!

The other commentaries in the series are cataloged as follows:

Caribbean Unity? – What a joke – Tourism Missteps
Caribbean Unity? – Ross University Saga
Caribbean Unity? – No Freedom of Movement in/out of French Antilles
Caribbean Unity? – Religion’s Role: False Friend

All of these commentaries relate to “how” the stewards for a new Caribbean can shepherd unity in this region. But first we must accept that Caribbean Unity is a joke, despite a previous formal exercise in regional integration called CariCom. In truth, CariCom is not the first integration attempt:

In the English-speaking islands, there was the disastrous West Indies Federation.
In the Dutch-speaking islands, there was the now-defunct Netherlands Antilles.

This talk of Caribbean Unity/Disunity is not just academic; this has real world implications. Just last year, the Eastern Caribbean island of Dominica was devastated by Category 5 Hurricane Maria; the operations of their biggest non-tourism economic engine – Ross University and their 3500 students – was greatly impacted. The end result, another island, Barbados seems to have recruited Ross University to “relocate shop” to their island … permanently – not just during the recovery. This charge reflects the disunity of the region. Dominica and Barbados should have been collaborating, not competing.

This is not just our movement’s complaint alone; many community leaders identify and observe this bad trend. Consider here, this news article relating the story:

Title: Ross University saga an indictment on CARICOM
The leader of the Lucian Peoples Movement, Therold Prudent, has declared that the Ross University saga involving Dominica and Barbados, is an indictment on the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), the regional grouping to which both countries belong.

The institution is relocating from Dominica to Barbados.

“It just proves that we are like crabs in a barrel,” Prudent told St Lucia Times in an interview Friday.

“We are continually fighting each other for a little bread, for opportunity, whereas we should be standing with each other and at least saying to this University ‘Listen, this is a sister Island. You can’t just pick up and go and just come into another Caribbean Island because you believe that the terms aren’t favourable to you anymore in that particular country.’”

The LPM leader asserted that countries within CARICOM need to speak with one voice.

He expressed the view that the Ross University issue demonstrates that foreigners and investors understand the disunity and weakness in CARICOM and Caribbean Islands.

According to Prudent, the investors understand that all they have to do is “put a carrot before us and we will jump for it, not mindful if it is going to cost the other nation or country which is a part of CARICOM. ”

He said CARICOM has not lived up to expectations, including speaking with one voice on the international stage and adopting a unified foreign policy.

“Right now we are in a situation where everybody is looking after themselves and it is not about the region as a whole” the LPM leader lamented.

He told St Lucia Times that under such circumstances, it is easy for investors to disrespect the Caribbean.

On Tuesday, Barbados Prime Minister, Mia Mottley was quoted as denying that there was anything underhanded by her administration, in accepting the Ross University School of Medicine’s move to the island from Dominica.

Mottley asserted that the hands of her administration are clean, local media reports said.

Last Friday, Dominica’s Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit announced that Ross University, which had been forced to relocate its operations to St Kitts and the state of Tennessee in the United States following the passage of Hurricane Maria last September, would be leaving the Eastern Caribbean nation after 40 years.

Source: Posted August 10, 2018; retrieved August 23, 2018 from: https://stluciatimes.com/2018/08/10/prudent-ross-university-saga-an-indictment-on-caricom/

As related in the foregoing, these words by a St Lucian Opposition Party Leader is quite an indictment:

“… foreigners and investors understand the disunity and weakness in CARICOM and Caribbean Islands”

Our disunity is a joke … to the rest of the world!

No doubt, there should be regional integration. In fact what is needed is a Single Market. The spirit of CariCom – attempting integration – is a good one; but the execution is failing. The book Go Lean…Caribbean – available to download for free – opened with an honest assessment of CariCom; it stated (Page 14):

In July 2013, the Caribbean Community (CariCom) celebrated its 40th anniversary of ascension to pomp and gallantry… and much criticism. Many political and social commentators expressed how the CariCom had disappointed so many in their delivery of any reasonable success for economic integration. One commentator, Caribbean icon Sir Shridath Ramphal, (who served as the second British Commonwealth Secretary-General from 1975-1990; Foreign Minister of Guyana from 1972 – 1975; and previous stints as Chancellor at the University of the West Indies – until 2003 – and of the University of Guyana), charged that the leadership in the Caribbean region has “put the gears of the CariCom Single Market in neutral and the gears of its Single Economy into reverse”.

The movement behind the book Go Lean … Caribbean seeks to reboot and relaunch the integration effort. But this time, with all Caribbean member-states (30), not just the English-speaking, but partnering with the French Antilles and Spanish-speaking states as well. The Go Lean book serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU), an elevated entity that graduates from CariCom. The CU is design to reach greater heights than CariCom ever contemplated; see Appendix CU > CC below.

There are a lot of issues that affect the economic landscape that are too big for any one member-state to contend with alone. Category 5 hurricanes are one of them. The facilitation to restore and recover should be a regional effort and not just a national issue. Obviously, Dominica failed in its delivery for Ross University; see the encyclopedic details on that school history and recovery here (and the Appendix VIDEO on Ross 40th Year Timeline below):

Title: Ross University School of Medicine
History
The medical school was founded in 1978 as The University of Dominica School of Medicine by Robert Ross, an entrepreneur.^[2][3] At the time, it was housed in leased facilities at The Castaways Hotel, with an inaugural class of 11 students. In 1982, the University of Dominica School of Medicine formally changed its name to Ross University School of Medicine at the request of the government of Dominica.

In 1985 California state medical licensing officials (the Board of Medical Quality Assurance), began investigating RUSM, along with other medical schools located in the Caribbean.^[4] The officials released a report stating that RUSM at that time had nearly no admissions standards, and that the school was in the business of providing medical degrees to “everyone that wants one.”^[4] RUSM agreed to implement a number of changes recommended by the board and has since graduated over 11,000 practicing physicians.^[4]

In the late 1990s, RUSM expressed interest in opening a new medical school in Casper, in the U.S. state of Wyoming, but accreditation was denied by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education, the organization that accredits MD-granting medical schools in the United States.^[5] Some local individuals welcomed the economic impact of a new medical school on the town, but critics questioned the quality of education at a for-profit institution.^[5] In 2003, RUSM was acquired by DeVry Education Group,^[6] which has since renamed itself Adtalem Global Education.

The school was impacted by Hurricane Maria in 2017, when the Category 5 storm made landfall on the island of Dominica. The hurricane knocked out communications, effectively isolating RUSM from the outside world. The campus suffered moderate damage from the effects of Maria. Students and faculty were located through a university-initiated roll call, and then were evacuated from the campus to the U.S. mainland.^[7]

In October 2017, the university announced that classes for the fall semester would resume mid-October aboard the GNV Excellent, an Italian ferry that would be docked off the coast of the island of St. Kitts. The ship was reconfigured as an educational venue. ^[7]

In November 2017, Ross University School of Medicine announced plans to relocate temporarily to Knoxville, Tennessee for continuation of medical school classes. Lincoln Memorial University (LMU), based in Harrogate, Tennessee and with operations in Knoxville, will provide the necessary operational capacity and the technical capabilities to support RUSM faculty, students, and staff. ^[8]

Ross University School of Medicine has announced that the main campus will be relocated from Dominica to Barbados for the beginning of the 2019 Spring semester. ^[9] ^[10]

Source: Retrieved August 23, 2018 from:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ross_University_School_of_Medicine#History

Poor Ross University and poor Dominica.

The governance in this Caribbean region is so poor that these institutions could not anticipate the worst-case scenario of a hurricane. Sad! 🙁

The Caribbean as a region and the nation-state of Dominica has an inadequate status quo for providing the needs of the people and trading partners in these homelands. We are also inadequate for dealing with the challenges of nation-building. As a regional construct, we must do better! We must convene, consolidate, collude, confederate and collaborate, not compete.

The CU is designed to be a technocratic intergovernmental entity that shepherds economic growth for the full Caribbean region and mitigate against related security challenges – including preparation and response for natural disasters. The goal is to use a regional focus to reboot and optimize the region’s societal engines. The Go Lean/CU roadmap will employ strategies, tactics and implementations to impact its prime directives; identified with the following 3 statements:

Optimize the economic engines in order to grow the regional economy to $800 Billion & create 2.2 million new jobs.
Establish a security apparatus to ensure public safety and protect the resultant economic engines.
Improve Caribbean governance to support these engines.

The Go Lean book stresses that the required reform to transform Caribbean disaster preparation may be too big for any one country (think: Dominica); the solution must be a regional delivery (think: CariCom). This was an early motivation for the roadmap, as pronounced in the opening Declaration of Interdependence (Pages 12 – 13):

i. Whereas the earth’s climate has undeniably changed resulting in more severe tropical weather storms, it is necessary to prepare to insure the safety and security of life, property and systems of commerce in our geographical region. As nature recognizes no borders in the target of its destruction, we also must set aside border considerations in the preparation and response to these weather challenges.

xi. Whereas all men are entitled to the benefits of good governance in a free society, “new guards” must be enacted to dissuade the emergence of incompetence, corruption, nepotism and cronyism at the peril of the people’s best interest. The Federation must guarantee the executions of a social contract between government and the governed.

xvi. Whereas security of our homeland is inextricably linked to prosperity of the homeland, the economic and security interest of the region needs to be aligned under the same governance. Since economic crimes … can imperil the functioning of the wheels of commerce for all the citizenry, the accedence of this Federation must equip the security apparatus with the tools and techniques for predictive and proactive interdictions.

xxiv. Whereas a free market economy can be induced and spurred for continuous progress, the Federation must install the controls to better manage aspects of the economy: jobs, inflation, savings rate, investments and other economic principles. Thereby attracting direct foreign investment because of the stability and vibrancy of our economy.

B – Homeland Security Department

B4 – Emergency Management

This area is perhaps one of the most important functions of the CU. The Emergency Management Department will coordinate the planning, response, rebuilding and recovery before, during and after natural disasters and other emergency events. This is the risk management arm of the CU Trade Federation. As such, the scope of Emergency Management will also include education, mentoring, monitoring, mitigation, licensing and coordination of all volunteer activities.
…
Emergencies also include the man-made variety as in industrial (oil spills, factory accidents, chemical spills), explosions, terroristic attacks and prison riots. The purpose of the Trade Federation is to enhance the economic engines of the region.

While the # 1 economic driver in the region is tourism, any poorly managed episode of “man-made” emergencies will have devastating effects on tourist bookings. Therefore, the CU must respond quickly, forcefully and professionally to contain the physical and image damage that can occur from these incidents.

Though not exclusive, this agency will coordinate its specialized services, skill-sets and occupations like Paramedic, EMT, Search-and-Rescue, Canine (K-9) with other governing (law enforcement) entities. Regional training will therefore be coordinated, licensed, and certified by this CU Emergency Management Department.

This Emergency Management agency will also coordinate the training and management of animal responders, in conjunction with the other federal agencies of Justice, Agriculture, Interior (Parks). The animals will include bomb sniffing dogs, cadaver dogs, drug dogs and mounted police horses.

There is also an economic/financial scope for this department. As the effort for a comprehensive property-casualty fund to cover the entire Caribbean region will also be coordinated by this agency. The classic solution is a large pool of premium payers and claims filed by the affected area. Beyond this model, there are also advanced products like re-issuance side-cars for market assimilation. The public can then invest and profit from the threat/realization of regional risks. This derivative product is a bet, a gamble, but in the end, the result is an insurance fund of last resort, much like the Joint Underwriters Agency (JUA) in Florida.

The Caribbean must foster a better disaster preparation and response apparatus. Systems of commerce are at stake. So the Go Lean roadmap address “this” as a Prime Directive, asserting that the region’s security and economics must be managed with the same priorities. This Go Lean movement has previously detailed many related issues and advocacies for regional disaster preparation and response; consider this sample of previous blog-commentaries:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=15059	Regional Tourism & Disaster Coordination – No Longer Optional
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=15031	“Profiting” from Hurricanes – Disaster Risk Funds
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=15012	In Life or Death: No Love for Puerto Rico
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=14832	Example of Manifesting Environmental Change
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=13391	After Maria, Destruction and Defection for Puerto Rico
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=12996	After Irma, Failed State Indicators: Destruction and Defection
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=12977	After Irma, Barbuda Becomes a ‘Ghost Town’
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=12900	The Logistics of Disaster Relief
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=12879	Disaster Preparation: ‘Rinse and Repeat’
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=9455	Fix ‘Climate Change’ – Yes, We Can
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=6893	A Meteorologist’s View On Climate Change
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1817	Caribbean grapples with intense cycles of flooding & drought

In summary, the Caribbean has a problem. So many of our people – and institutions – flee their homelands, especially in the aftermath of disastrous storms. The reasons they leave are defined as both “push” and “pull”. “Push” would refer to the resultant deficient infrastructure forcing stakeholders to abandon the community, and “pull” would refer to the perception that there are better economic opportunities elsewhere, so these ones are lured or pulled to make a living elsewhere.

Ross University was pushed from Dominica and pulled to Barbados! This is a direct product of deficient recovery!

In general, 70 percent brain drain rate has been reported among the professional classes., so our problem experienced by Ross University in this case is not unique. This lack of recovery ability emerged before Hurricane Maria and will continue long after … if the region do not implement better recovery systems and schemes.

It is time now to deploy the practical measure of a better recovery system and scheme – think Regional Risk Reinsurance Funds. This starts with the concepts of confederation and collaboration; not competition. This is our best hope for the future.

So we must reform and transform the Caribbean’s societal engines to better allow for our tropical realities. This is the quest of the Go Lean roadmap. These practical measures are conceivable, believable and achievable.

All Caribbean stakeholders – governments and citizens alike – are urged to lean-in to this roadmap for change … and empowerment. We can make our region a better place to live work, learn and play. 🙂

Download the e-Book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

Sign the petition to lean-in for this roadmap for the Caribbean Union Trade Federation.

—————

Appendix – CU > CC (CU Greater Than CariCom)

There have been some efforts at regional integration, but only for individual language groups.

The Caribbean Union is the next evolution from the structured economic integration that became the Caribbean Community, but now for all neighbors. The globally accepted 7 degrees of economic integration, which spurned CariCom, are defined as:

Preferential trading area
Free trade area, Monetary union
Customs union, Common market
Economic union, Customs and monetary union
Economic and monetary union
Fiscal union
Complete economic integration

CariCom was enacted in 1973 as Stage 3; but Stage 4 was ratified in 2001 and branded the Caribbean Single Market & Economy. This effort sputtered – see Anecdote # 1. The CU is a new manifestation of Stage 4; a graduation for CariCom.

Source: Book – Go Lean … Caribbean Page 3

—————

Appendix VIDEO – RUSM 40th Anniversary Timeline – https://youtu.be/R62eushQSdE

Ross University School of Medicine

Published on Jun 22, 2018 –

Category: Education

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Making a ‘Pluralistic Democracy’ – Freedom of Movement

Posted on October 23, 2017 in Economics, Locations, Social

Go Lean Commentary

I have a personal confession!

At one point, recently, I had a California address, Michigan Drivers License and Florida car registration; all at the same time. This is demonstrative of a country – United States of America – where stakeholders have ‘Freedom of Movement’. This is a feature of a Single Market.

Live here … work there … play everywhere …

There are planners for a new Caribbean that wants a Single Market economy, where citizens have ‘Freedom of Movement’ from one member-state to another. This would be part-and-parcel of a “Pluralistic Democracy”, which means a society where the many different ethnic groups (or national origins) have respect, equal rights, equal privileges and equal protections under the law; where there are no superior rights to any majority and no special deprivations to any minority, despite the border or language consideration. This is pure Pluralism, whose legal definition of the political philosophy is as follows:

… the recognition and affirmation of diversity within a political body, which permits the peaceful coexistence of different interests, convictions and lifestyles.^[1] While not all political pluralists advocate for a pluralist democracy, this is most common as democracy is often viewed as the most fair and effective way to moderate between the discrete values.^[2] – Wikipedia

This vision of a Caribbean “Pluralistic Democracy” should be more than words, but action too. This need has manifested in recent days with the devastation of two Category 5 Hurricanes in the region: Irma and Maria. Consider the news article here depicting the post-hurricane ‘Freedom of Movement’ among the 6 OECS countries (Organization of Eastern Caribbean States: Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, and St Vincent and the Grenadines):

Title – Antigua prepares for influx of Dominicans
Barbados Today – Antigua says it is anticipating an influx of Dominicans in the wake of catastrophic Hurricane Maria which has decimated that country.

Acting Prime Minister, Attorney General Steadroy Benjamin, on Saturday convened a meeting of the sub-committee of Cabinet responsible for managing the planning for natural disasters and their aftermath.

Government Chief of Staff Lionel Hurst described the meeting as “a proactive drive, intended to manage efficiently the anticipated flow of people from Dominica”.

Also in attendance where Ministers Molwyn Joseph, Asot Michael, Minister Melford Nicholas, Arthur Nibbs, the chief immigration officer and her deputy, law enforcement authorities, representative of the airlines association including LIAT, the head of the Red Cross, and officials from the ministry of social transformation.

The Acting Prime Minister directed the group to present a fixed set of policies that would apply to all those who are leaving Dominica for Antigua, and to plan the reception of those OECS/Dominican citizens who may choose Antigua.

It was agreed that there will be only two legitimate ports of entry – the V.C. Bird International Airport and the Montserrat Ferry Dock at Heritage Quay.

“The Coast Guard is to ensure that no vessel entering Antigua’s waters discharges its passengers at any other dock. Since no vegetables or other food items will be shipped from Dominica in the foreseeable future, all vessels must proceed to Heritage Quay,” Hurst said.

Citizens of Dominica have a right of entry into Antigua and other OECS countries and an automatic six-month stay and must present their passport, driver’s license or voter’s identification card to allow entry.

“A database of the Dominicans entering will be developed. Those citizens of Dominica who do not have any of the agreed identification will be permitted to enter Antigua, after completing a form which the Antigua and Barbuda Immigration Department has constructed specifically to meet the needs of those who have lost their documents in the hurricane. Those persons leaving Dominica who are not Dominican citizens must have onward tickets, or be prepared to purchase tickets for onward travel to their own countries,” Hurst said.

He added that the police and the ONDCP are to work closely to determine if any of the persons leaving Dominica are law-breakers. In this regard, the Dominica Police Force will also be asked to assist.

All Dominican citizens who enter Antigua will also be asked to provide certain health information so that continuing services can be provided or secured, in order to protect their health and the population’s.

“It is anticipated that women and children, the elderly of both genders and the infirm, are likely to be among the first wave of Dominican citizens to arrive [in] Antigua. It is also believed that many will choose to stay with family and friends, especially since a supportive group has already been formed. The entrants will be asked to provide names, addresses, telephone numbers and other contact information to the immigration authorities at both ports,” Hurst said.
He said consideration has been given to preparing shelters at various sites should the flow exceed the provision of housing by family and friends of the Dominicans who live on Antigua.

Hurst noted that the other four OECS countries – St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines and Grenada – are also likely to welcome Dominican citizens to their shores during this crisis.

Source: Posted September 24, 2017; retrieved October 22, 2017 from: https://stluciatimes.com/2017/09/24/antigua-prepares-influx-dominicans

Normality is disrupted in Dominica – due to Hurricane Maria – so the people, societal engines and systems of commerce have to transfer over to Antigua. While this is not good for Dominica’s economy, it is better than losing the population permanently to some foreign location – the Diaspora. The Dominican people going to Antigua for hurricane recovery is not the “One Way” societal abandonment, it is just ‘Freedom of Movement’.

The movement behind the book Go Lean…Caribbean has repeatedly related that there is a need for new stewardship of the Caribbean societal engines (economics, security and governance). The world has changed; the “World is Flat“! The Go Lean book considers these Agents of Change (Page 57) that have dynamically affected the Caribbean economic eco-systems:

Technology
Globalization
Aging Diaspora
Climate Change

The Agent of Change of Globalization implies that people can easily move from place-to-place to live, work or play; everywhere is “virtually” next door. Ours, in the Caribbean, is not the first region to contend with this ‘Freedom of Movement’ option. In fact, this practice for the OECS is modeled after the European Schengen Area – ‘Freedom of Movement’ of people, goods, services and capital across 26 European borders, not the USA. See more in the VIDEO here:

VIDEO – Schengen Area: History, Facts and Benefits – https://youtu.be/xffvPWmoWsQ

Europe Guide

Published on Apr 13, 2016 – Today, Schengen Area signifies a zone where the free movement of people, goods, services and capital between 26 European countries is not just a concept any longer. Watch this very interesting video about the chronological history of Schengen Area to learn about how the dream for a borderless Europe came true, leaving the opportunity for more than 400 million citizens to travel freely inside the Europe without any border check control.

Website: http://www.schengenvisainfo.com

Follow us on Facebook: http://smarturl.it/SchengenVisaInfoFCB

Subscribe to our YouTube channel: http://smarturl.it/EuropeGuideChannel

Category: People & Blogs

License: Standard YouTube License

Imagine this Caribbean-wide version of the Schengen Area, for all 30 member-states, not just the 6 OECS countries. Imagine a Caribbean-wide Single Market. Imagine how beneficial before, during and after a natural disaster … like Maria.

The book Go Lean…Caribbean – available to download for free – serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU), for the elevation of Caribbean society in good times and bad – for all 30 member-states. This CU/Go Lean roadmap has these 3 prime directives:

Optimization of the economic engines in order to grow the regional economy to $800 Billion and create 2.2 million new jobs.
Establishment of a security apparatus to ensure public safety and protect the resultant economic engines.
Improve Caribbean governance to support these engines, including a separation-of-powers between the member-states and CU federal agencies.

The book stresses that reforming and transforming the Caribbean societal engines must be a regional pursuit, “all for one and one for all” member-state-wise. This was an early motivation for the roadmap, as pronounced in the opening Declaration of Interdependence (Pages 12 – 13):

xi. Whereas all men are entitled to the benefits of good governance in a free society, “new guards” must be enacted to dissuade the emergence of incompetence, corruption, nepotism and cronyism at the peril of the people’s best interest. The Federation must guarantee the executions of a social contract between government and the governed.

xvi. Whereas security of our homeland is inextricably linked to prosperity of the homeland, the economic and security interest of the region needs to be aligned under the same governance. Since economic crimes … can imperil the functioning of the wheels of commerce for all the citizenry, the accedence of this Federation must equip the security apparatus with the tools and techniques for predictive and proactive interdictions.

xxi. Whereas the preparation of our labor force can foster opportunities and dictate economic progress for current and future generations, the Federation must ensure that educational and job training opportunities are fully optimized for all residents of all member-states, with no partiality towards any gender or ethnic group. The Federation must recognize and facilitate excellence in many different fields of endeavor, including sciences, languages, arts, music and sports. This responsibility should be executed without incurring the risks of further human flight, as has been the past history.

xxiv. Whereas a free market economy can be induced and spurred for continuous progress, the Federation must install the controls to better manage aspects of the economy: jobs, inflation, savings rate, investments and other economic principles. Thereby attracting direct foreign investment because of the stability and vibrancy of our economy.

The Go Lean book provides 370-pages of turn-by-turn instructions on “how” to adopt new community ethos, plus the strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies to execute so as to reboot, reform and transform the societal engines of Caribbean society. There is a lot of consideration in the book for the free movement of people, goods, services and capital in the Caribbean region. In fact, the organizational structure of the CU includes a “federal” Department of Labor with the charter to coordinate regional labor dimensions. Since one of the prime directives of the CU is the economic empowerment of the member-states – jobs – there are a lot of angles and views about delivering jobs that needs to be coordinated on a regional level. As such, there are proactive and reactive measures that this department will shepherd.

As related in the book (Page 89), this federal department also coordinates the activities for Labor Certifications in the region. This effort will be collaborated and in cooperation with the many member-state Labor Relations agencies. The CU‘s focus will be towards interstate activities and enterprises, as opposed to an intra-state focus. This Labor Certification is an important role for this agency as it requires monitoring the labor needs of the region to ascertain where skills are needed and where and who can supply the skills. The certification role involves rating the level of expertise needed for job and rating workers skill sets. (Consider a 10-point grading system for positions and personnel, where “apprentice” level ranges from 1 – 3, “journeyman” level ranges from 4 – 6, and “master” ranges from 7 – 10).

This certification role is vital to the strategy of preserving Caribbean human capital in the region, even if this involves some movement among the member-states. Notice these treatments from the book:

10 Ways to Improve Interstate Commerce (Page 129)
#8 – Labor Markets – Freedom of Movement
The CU seeks to improve the transparency and mobility in the Caribbean labor markets to contend with the challenges of scarcity of skilled labor (openings can be staffed by any CU resident), innovation deficits (solutions come from a large educated market), and financial risks in social pension systems (need more young workers). The CU strives to offer an alternative Caribbean state to residents looking for a new address/dream. This will assuage risks of brain/capital drains.
10 Ways to Model the EU (Page 130)
#9 – Labor Issues
The EU seeks to improve the transparency and mobility in European labor markets to contend with the challenges of an aging population, scarcity of skilled labor, innovation deficits, and financial risks in social security systems. The CU will have to contend with many of the same challenges plus the goal of repatriation. The EU model provides great lessons [for the Caribbean].
10 Ways to Mitigate Black Markets (Page 165)
#4 – Caribbean Dollar Realities
The [CU] Federation plan … allows for mobility of labor from one Caribbean state to another. The CU will ensure protections for the work force (unemployment and health insurance benefits) thereby nullifying “black markets” for labor.
10 Ways to Foster Empowering Immigration (Page 174)
#1 – Lean-in for the Caribbean Single Market & Economy Initiative
The Single Market structure allows for the controlled movement of labor from state to state, and the opportunity to correct actuarial imbalances. … The skills needed for today’s global economy may not be plentiful in the Caribbean and thus the need to invite empowering immigrants.
10 Ways to Promote Contact Centers (Page 212)
#6 – Capitalize on Multi-lingual Society
With Dutch, English, French and Spanish speakers proliferating in the region, the CU will catalog bilingual (or multilingual) skills as an asset in the labor market. This will create more of a demand for this talent base as supply systems are implemented to showcase their skills. In macro-economics, the readiness of the labor market is called “capital”, and an offer (or fulfillment) of tele-services to foreign markets like Holland, France, Quebec (Canada), (Border States) and other former Dutch/French colonies will lead to growth of the industry and the CU’s GDP.
10 Ways to Re-boot Haiti (Page 238)
#8 – Labor, Immigration and Movement of People
The recovery plan for Haiti would discourage the emigration of the population. Haiti has a population base (10 million) that can imperil other islands if too many Haitians relocate within the Caribbean. As a result, the CU will expend the resources and facilitate the campaign to dissuade relocation for the first 10 years of the ascension of the CU. During these first 10 years, Haitians visiting other CU member states, with Visa’s, with careful monitoring to ensure compliance.
10 Ways to Impact The Guianas (Page 241)
# 6 – Emigration Circuit Breaker
Some chronic problems related to economic progress has been the shortage of skilled labor and a deficient infrastructure. The CU seeks to offer an alternative to citizens abandoning the region for EU or US shores. A diverse, well-managed economy of 42 million people, rather than the minimal 200,000 of Guyana alone and 160,000 of Suriname, offer more options to assuage pressures for Guianian talent fleeing. The whole CU can provide solutions to contend with the scarcity of skilled labor, innovation deficits, and financial risks in social pension systems.

The Go Lean…Caribbean roadmap presents the advocacy for Benefiting from Globalization (Page 119). Globalization has been exacerbated thanks to Free Trade Agreements – the CU Trade Federation is a Free Trade Agreement – so the goal is to master the art-and-science of Free Trade and the Free Movement of people, goods and capital. So these subjects are part-and-parcel of this comprehensive roadmap to elevate Caribbean society to be a better place to live, work and play..

Yes, this Go Lean roadmap considers the heavy-lifting of structuring Caribbean society to benefit more from Globalization. As individual member-states, there is no chance for success, but together, as a unified region, there is so much to leverage. The Go Lean roadmap seeks to unite the people of the entire Caribbean region (leveraging all 42 million people), diversify the regional economy (to create new 2.2 million jobs) and reverse the trend for our people to seek refuge in foreign lands. Let’s do better here at home. Let’s allow our citizens to prosper where planted here in the Caribbean.

Live here … work there … play everywhere …

Now is the time for all stakeholders in the Caribbean – governments and citizens – to lean-in to this Go Lean roadmap. We can do better and be better. This is part of our quest for a ‘Pluralistic Democracy’; this is Part 2 of a 3-Part series. The full collection is as follows:

Making a ‘Pluralistic Democracy’ – Respect for Diwali
Making a ‘Pluralistic Democracy’ – Freedom of Movement
Making a ‘Pluralistic Democracy’ – Multilingual Realities

This ‘Pluralistic Democracy’ vision is a BIG deal, yet this is conceivable, believable and achievable. 🙂

Download the free e-book of Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

Sign the petition to lean-in for the roadmap for the Caribbean Union Trade Federation.

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Antigua, CariCom, Dominica, Jobs, Transform

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Dominica Diaspora – Not the Panacea

Posted on October 18, 2017 in Government, Locations, Social, Strategy

Go Lean Commentary

If only it was that simple!

You love your homeland, but you live abroad. You simply create a not-for-profit organization, execute a development plan to relieve, restore, recover, rebuild and boom: Instant success … back in the homeland.

If only?! It doesn’t work that way.

Yet still, this is what is transpiring on behalf of the Caribbean island of Dominica; see the profile of one such organization here (and more on the island nation in the Appendix below):

Rebuild Dominica, Inc. is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit relief organisation based in the Washington, D.C. metro area. We were founded by humanitarians determined to help rebuild Dominica in the wake of the devastation wrought by Tropical Storm Erika. This effort continues in support of disaster relief post-Hurricane Maria — the most horrendous assault Dominica has ever experienced.
URL: https://rebuilddominica.org/

Make no mistake; Dominica needs all the help it can get, especially right now after the near total devastation from Category 5 Hurricane Maria; they must relieve, restore, recover and rebuild. See this reality manifested in this VIDEO here:

VIDEO – Small island of Dominica hit hardest by Hurricane Maria – https://youtu.be/FWbzgn3nHaU

Al Jazeera English

Published on Sep 25, 2017 – Hurricane Maria has killed at least 33 people so far, with the bulk of those deaths happening on the tiny island of Dominica. At least 80 percent of the buildings there have been damaged and most communication lines cut. Al Jazeera’s Gabriel Elizondo reports from Dominica.

– Subscribe to our channel: http://aje.io/AJSubscribe
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– Check our website: http://www.aljazeera.com/

Category: News & Politics

License: Standard YouTube License

Thank you Diaspora, for this fine start; yet still, the problems that Dominica have – with this storm recovery here and even larger issues above and beyond – can not be fixed by this island’s Diaspora alone. No, there is the need for a more comprehensive solution.

Above and Beyond – Yes, looking at the horizon and longing for a solution from above and beyond is the concern of this commentary. In fact, this is the theme of a series of commentaries from the movement behind the book Go Lean … Caribbean. It has been consistent in urging the stakeholders (governments and citizen groups) of the Caribbean member-states to NOT put their hope and faith in their Diaspora to look back to their homelands and be the panacea – cure-all solution – that their societies need. There is preponderance for governments to pursue this strategy. Just recently we published commentaries on this Caribbean pre-occupation, with these entries relating these homelands:

Haiti – September 30, 2017 – https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=13105
Jamaica – September 20, 2017 – https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=13040
Bahamas – September 4, 2017 – https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=12911
St. Lucia – March 3, 2017 – https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=10657

The premise for the criticism of this Diaspora strategy is that the ones that have fled the region have done so for a reason; they have been “pushed” or “pulled” away from their homeland. They may still love their country, but can only do so much from abroad. While one person can change their community, it is near impossible for that one person if they are not in the community; there may be trust, accountability and transparency issues. Thusly, the Diaspora is less inclined to invest back in their country; and the historicity is that they have not! Thusly, all efforts to outreach the Diaspora are usually futile. All of these prior commentaries relate this basic truth about catering to the Diaspora:

The subtle [Diaspora outreach] message to the Caribbean population is that they need to leave their homeland, go get success and then please remember to invest in us afterwards.

… It is so unfortunate that the people in the Caribbean are beating down the doors to get out of their Caribbean homeland, to seek refuge in these places like the US, Canada and Western Europe. … As a result, we have such a sad state of affairs for our Caribbean eco-system as we are suffering from a bad record of societal abandonment.

Yes, the problem of this Diaspora-outreach strategy is that it double-downs on the failure of why the Diaspora left in the first place. When we look at Dominica and see the many failures of that country, we realize that the Dominicans on the island and the Dominicans in the Diaspora cannot, single-handedly or collectively, solve the problems on that homeland. No, something bigger and better is needed.

They are trying now, for that something better …

They are engaging help and support of different not-for-profits, foundations and non-government organization (NGO). See a related news article here:

Title: Rebuild Dominica Partners with Project C.U.R.E. & Other Global Allies Post-Hurricane Maria
Sub-title: Washington, D.C. Based Nonprofit Collaborates To Deliver Hurricane Relief Supplies to the Island Of Dominica
By: The Caribbean Current

Bowie, MD (October 8, 2017) – Since its inception in August of 2015, in direct response to Tropical Erika devastating The Commonwealth of Dominica, Rebuild Dominica holds steadfast to its mission of forming and sustaining long-term partnerships to address the unmet needs of communities in Dominica.

Dr. Sam Christian, Rebuild Dominica’s Coordinator of Medical Operations on-island, submitted reports to pronounce the discovery of three residents of Pointe Michel — whom he respectively met dead in a ravine, on the beach, and under debris of a porch. Hours after Hurricane Maria, Dr. Christian, a former U.S. Army Major, and combat surgeon was the only surgeon working with police and a search and rescue team in the south of Dominica. This continued for days, during the difficult hours post-Maria, before outside help came to the area of Point Michel and Soufriere.

These reports were used to secure medical supplies valued at approximately $400,000 USD as donated by Project C.U.R.E.: the largest provider of donated medical supplies and equipment to developing countries around the world. The relief supplies will ship this week to Dominica, while Dr. Sam Christian continues to provide free medical treatment in anticipation of the delivery.

The cost of shipment of the medical supplies was funded under the direction of Rebuild Dominica and the nonprofit’s global supporters. A primary donation of $10,000 USD was received from Ethiopian financier and Advisor to Ethiopian Crown Council, Mel Tewahade. Additional assistance totaling $5,000 USD was pledged by from Saad Wakas and Omar Fisher: Rebuild Dominica allies based in Dubai. The President of Rebuild Dominica, Mr. Gabriel Christian, donated an additional $10,000 underwritten by his law firm in Maryland. The combined mobilization for the Project C.U.R.E. shipment is $20,000 – the sum directed to Project C.U.R.E. on behalf of Rebuild Dominica.

Founding member of Rebuild Dominica, Pastor St. Clair Mitchell of Evangel Assembly, along with Pastor Bell convened with the nonprofit on the evening of September 19, 2017, to mobilize the D.C. community. Carib Nation TV Director, Larry Sindass, and host Derrice Deane brought the Rebuild Dominica relief appeal to a global audience.

John Green, Delvin Walters, John Riviere, Colonel Koreen Parry, Captain Delvin Walters, Loema Sealey, Loughton Sargeant and Monique Joseph — all leaders of the Caribbean Disaster Relief and Recovery Alliance (CDRRA) — rushed to aid Rebuild Dominica; an early member of the CDRRA Diaspora disaster response collaborative. Caribbean Cargo DC again proved itself a solid community ally by reducing its shipping rates and donating storage space for relief supplies.

While facilitating the arrival and news coverage in Dominica by Al Jazeera TV and the Israeli Search and Rescue Team, Rebuild Dominica communicated with Dominica’s Prime Minister, Roosevelt Skerrit. A national medical services assessment, with guidance from Dr. Dale Dangleben and Dr. Sam Christian, is currently in progress for additional donations in the medical sphere.

Another shipment totaling three tons of food and medicine await shipment from Caribbean CargoDC and ATAS Roofing USA has committed to assist with supplies for roofing needs in Dominica. Greek-Ethiopian, Captain Demetrius Apokremiotis, has secured a short-term donation of a Convair 340 cargo plane on behalf of Rebuild Dominica to airlift 7,000 pounds of aid supplies from Miami to Dominica.

As of as of September 25, Rebuild Dominica is an official PayPal nonprofit partner. This status puts the nonprofit on par with all major US nonprofits dedicated to disaster relief.

A fundraiser is currently underway to secure monies needed to fuel and deliver the aid that awaits the displaced and starving citizens of Dominica. To that end, Rebuild Dominica has partnered with CDRRA for the upcoming ‘One Caribbean Hurricane Relief Concert’ slated for Sunday, October 8, 2017, in Bowie, Maryland. Proceeds will benefit the Caribbean islands devastated by Hurricane Irma and Hurricane Maria.

To volunteer, share resources, or make a financial contribution to this nonprofit, please visit www.RebuildDominica.org.

Source: Posted October 11, 2017 from: https://www.thecaribbeancurrent.com/rebuild-dominica-partners-project-c-u-r-e-global-allies-post-hurricane-maria/

To relieve, restore, recover and rebuild Dominica after Hurricane Maria, we need these NGO’s, and the Diaspora, and the island’s government; and … something more …

… enter the Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). This is presented as the organizational solution for Dominica; this is the panacea that Dominica and the rest of the Caribbean needs. But first, we need people to stay in their Caribbean homelands, not flee. We need them to prosper where planted here at home. Democratic governments – of the people; by the people; for the people – cannot expect to promote the best of their people, if the best people keep leaving – and joining the Diaspora.

The book Go Lean…Caribbean – available to download for free – serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic CU, for the elevation of Caribbean societal engines – economic, security and governance for all member-states. The book asserts that the region must work together – in a formal regional integration – to hold on to its populations – especially the highly educated ones – not see them leave for foreign shores. To accomplish this objective, this CU/Go Lean roadmap presents these 3 prime directives:

Optimization of the economic engines in order to grow the regional economy to $800 Billion and create 2.2 million new jobs. There are limited economic opportunities in Dominica today, but a regional reboot can create a new industrial landscape with long-sought job and entrepreneurial opportunities.
Establishment of a security apparatus to ensure public safety and protect the resultant economic engines. This includes the proactive and reactive empowerments to better relieve, restore, recover and rebuild from hurricanes.
Improvement of Caribbean governance to support these engines, including regional integration with a separation-of-powers between each state and CU agencies. There is also a plan to engage NGO’s and foundations for their optimal participation. This stewardship will finally present the maturity so as to handle the management of charities in the region.

The Go Lean book – and many previous blog-commentaries – asserts that while conditions may be bad for Caribbean residents (i.e. Dominican) in their homeland, Black-and-Brown immigrants to far-away countries (think: North America and Western Europe) often have to contend with less than welcoming conditions in those countries. It is only with the Second Generation that prosperity is achieved, but by then, the children of the Caribbean Diaspora are not considered “Caribbean” anymore; they assume their residential citizenship. As conveyed in the foregoing VIDEO, it is not these Second Generation types – legacies – that are overcoming the obstacles to venture back to their ancestral homeland in the wake of hurricanes.

So it is the summation that it is better for Dominican people, and people of all the Caribbean for that matter, to work to remediate and mitigate the risks of Failed-State status in their homeland, but such work is heavy-lifting. It requires a reboot of the entire Dominican eco-system. The Go Lean roadmap calls for a technocratic reboot, to reform and transform regional society. Many people may argue – and they would be correct – that the reformation and transformation of Caribbean communities should come from Caribbean people first. But with such a high societal abandonment rate, the population of many Caribbean member-states – as in Dominica – is approaching a distribution where half of the citizens live on the islands and the other half live abroad – in the Diaspora. For some other countries, it is a vast majority of the educated populations that have fled; one report presents that abandonment rate of 70 percent. See the data references here:

According to the preliminary 2011 census results Dominica has a population of 71,293.^[1] The population growth rate is very low, due primarily to emigration to more prosperous Caribbean Islands, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Canada. The estimated mid-year population of 2016 is 73,543 (the 2017 revision of the World Population Prospects^[2]).- Wikipedia.

When Caribbean people in general, and Dominicans in particular, emigrate and become aliens in a foreign land, life is not necessarily better in those countries. As related in a previous blog-commentary, those who live in the Diaspora know “both sides of the coin”, as most of them have lived in the ancestral lands at one point. But on the other half, those who still live in the homeland may have never lived abroad.

They do not know what they do not know!

Being a visitor to some North American or European city is different than being a resident, as visitors do not have the interactions of applying for jobs, housing, government benefits, paying taxes, co-existing with neighbors, etc.. These ones in the homeland may naturally assume that the “grass is greener on the other side”. Here’s the truth:

It is not! (The grass in the northern cities may not even be green at all; it may be covered with autumn foliage or snow).

The Go Lean roadmap is not for the Diaspora to come to the rescue, but rather a Caribbean confederacy, constituted by all 30 member-states. This position leverages the Caribbean as a Single Market (42 million people); it asserts that this is better than just catering to the Diaspora of just one country. This is to be the panacea that Caribbean needs to assuage its defects and dysfunctions. Plus, it also includes the Diaspora, but for all the Caribbean nations combined – estimated at 10 to 25 million. This is a plan for interdependence! This was the motivation for the CU/Go Lean roadmap, as pronounced in the opening Declaration of Interdependence (Pages 12 – 13) of the book:

xi. Whereas all men are entitled to the benefits of good governance in a free society, “new guards” must be enacted to dissuade the emergence of incompetence, corruption, nepotism and cronyism at the peril of the people’s best interest. The Federation must guarantee the executions of a social contract between government and the governed.

xix. Whereas our legacy in recent times is one of societal abandonment, it is imperative that incentives and encouragement be put in place to first dissuade the human flight, and then entice and welcome the return of our Diaspora back to our shores. This repatriation should be effected with the appropriate guards so as not to imperil the lives and securities of the repatriated citizens or the communities they inhabit. The right of repatriation is to be extended to any natural born citizens despite any previous naturalization to foreign sovereignties.

xx. Whereas the results of our decades of migration created a vibrant Diaspora in foreign lands, the Federation must organize interactions with this population into structured markets. Thus allowing foreign consumption of domestic products, services and media, which is a positive trade impact. These economic activities must not be exploited by others’ profiteering but rather harnessed by Federation resources for efficient repatriations.

xxiv. Whereas a free market economy can be induced and spurred for continuous progress, the Federation must install the controls to better manage aspects of the economy: jobs, inflation, savings rate, investments and other economic principles. Thereby attracting direct foreign investment because of the stability and vibrancy of our economy.

The goal of the Go Lean roadmap is for Caribbean people to prosper where planted; the book therefore provides 370-pages of turn-by-turn instructions on “how” to adopt new community ethos, plus the strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies to execute so as to reboot the region’s societal engines, for Dominica and other member-states. One advocacy for a Way Forward is the plan to optimize the roles and responsibilities of non-government organizations (Page 219):

10 Ways to Impact Foundations

1	Lean-in for the Caribbean Single Market This treaty allows for the unification of the region into one market, thereby expanding to an economy of 30 countries, 42 million people and GDP of over $800 Billion (circa 2010). With the scale of this Single Market, the CU serves as a proxy to facilitate the economic engines, regional security initiatives and emergency management needs of the Caribbean. While the CU is not an advocacy for human rights or civil rights, there are many social causes that the CU will impact in a tangential manner (women, disabled, poverty, middle class, others). The CU allows for the regional oversight and promotion of Not-For-Profit foundations to execute their campaigns to impact the socio-economic causes of the region.
2	NGOs to Deliver CU Social AgendaThe CU will facilitate the eco-system for not-for-profit foundations and non-government organizations. The CU’s Department of State will not just facilitate incorporations on the regional level, no need to repeat in every member-state, but also provide much of the NGO administration and oversight to satisfy the local governments and other stakeholders.
3	Domestic ChartersOne of the missions of the CU is for the Diaspora to repatriate their time, talents and treasuries to make the Caribbean a better place to live, work and play. The CU will encourage the creation of micro-focused foundations and not-for-profit NGOs. This is a natural way for others to give back. Those desiring to contribute (and incentivized) can enable their causes and passions through local foundations, or petition the CU to discern new gaps needing fulfillment.
4	“One Percent” AlignmentThere is a new spirit of philanthropy imbrued in the population of the world’s billionaires and millionaires (One Percent), many of them have signed a Giving Pledge to donate half of their estate to global charitable causes. Many of this group – see Appendix N on Page 292 – facilitates charitable contributions by means of their personal or otherwise aligned foundations.
5	Foreign ChartersFoundations incorporated in foreign lands will find a “welcome mat” in the Caribbean. The CU will identify opportunities for these foundations to engage within this region. The CU will maintain a Special Interest Group to liaison with the “One Percent” of the world’s richest people. The CU will therefore solicit them for philanthropic manifestations in the CU.
6	CU Reporting
7	e-Delivery
8	Education via e-Learning
9	Intelligence Gathering and Big-Data AnalysisThe CU Intelligence Gathering and Analysis mechanism will track the progress of their activities, plus mitigate threats and risks for foundations and NGOs. The CU’s satellite and terrestrial surveillance systems, and predictive modeling/Big Data Analysis will help guide the focus of foundations – this way their investments and roles will be greatly enhanced.
10	Failed-State Status – *Monitoring and MitigationsThere are a few social factors (refugee, family reunification, brain drain) that are so pivotal that they are considered indicators* for Failed-State status. The CU’s mission to improve these indices can be dovetailed with the foundations.

There have been a number of blog-commentaries by the Go Lean promoters that have detailed the functionalities of NGO’s and foundations as part of the Way-Forward – the best hope for a new eco-system for Dominica, and the whole Caribbean. See a sample list here:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=12949	Charity Management for the Caribbean – Grow Up Already
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=11598	Plea to Philanthropists: Give us your Time, Talent and Treasuries
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=8243	Zuckerberg’s Philanthropy Project Makes First Major Investment
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5462	Charity Dysfunction: The Red Cross’ $500 Million In Haiti Relief
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1763	Gates Foundation: Changing the World

Confederating a regional response is by all means the best-practice for Dominica and other Caribbean hurricane victims. Good results are evident from the limited multilateral efforts that have been exerted thus far. See here:

… the response shows that in a region separated by language and geography, culture remains a strong tie.

“Caribbean culture understands that when a cousin or godson is hurting down the street, everyone puts in their little bit to make a pot of food,” said Marlon Hill, a Jamaican-born Miami attorney, who with the help of The Miami Foundation, is spearheading the U.S. Caribbean Strong Relief Fund with other South Florida Caribbean leaders. “Today it’s Dominica, but tomorrow it can be Saint Lucia, next week it can be Barbados and next year it can be Grenada.”

… whether the new spirit of cooperation will lead to deeper integration among Caribbean nations remains to be seen.

Anthony Bryan, a Caribbean expert now with the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies said that while the recent hurricanes represent a “common disaster” that has pulled nations together, he isn’t optimistic that it will lead to anything beyond the current functional cooperation among many countries on matters such as a common high school exit exam or health initiatives.

“I think we tend to come together when there are either disaster responses or security measures and to coordinate foreign policies,” Bryan said. “Regional integration has been the hope for many years, but it takes political will. … Functional cooperation has always existed. But to carry it further to political integration? Not in my lifetime.”

Still, [Ronald] Jackson, the head of the regional disaster response – [Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management] – Agency, remains hopeful.

“We have shown that it is possible,” he said.

Source: Posted September 26, 2017 by the Miami Herald

In summary, regional integration: Good; societal abandonment: Bad!

Any country growing their Diaspora is bad for that country and bad for the Diaspora members. Dominica – and every other country – needs its sons and daughters right now; actually this island needs “all hands on deck” for the Way-Forward. Any official policy to encourage emigration and living-working-abroad – on a permanent basis – is a flawed policy. Rather, it is better to have our citizens in the homeland. They can better help to relieve, restore, recover and rebuild the country.

So any policy that double-downs on the Diaspora is actually doubling-down on failure. We should never want people to have to leave then hope they remember us in our times of distress. No, we want and need them here at home at all times: good, bad and hurricane. We want and need them to “plant” … and prosper where planted.

We strongly urge every stakeholder of Dominica and all of the Caribbean to lean-in to this roadmap to make our homeland, Dominica and the remaining of the 30 member-states, better places to live, work and play. 🙂

Download the free e-book of Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

Sign the petition to lean-in for this roadmap for the Caribbean Union Trade Federation.

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Appendix – Dominica Today

Dominica, officially the Commonwealth of Dominica, is a sovereign island country.^[8] The capital, Roseau, is located on the leeward side of the island. It is part of the Windward Islands in the Lesser Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean Sea. The island lies south-southeast of Guadeloupe and northwest of Martinique. Its area is 750 km² (290 sq mi), and the highest point is Morne Diablotins, at 1,447 m (4,747 ft) in elevation. The population was 71,293 at the 2011 census.^[5]

Source: Retrieved October 17, 2017 from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominica

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Dominica is a member-state in the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), along with the sovereign territories of: Antigua and Barbuda, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines and Grenada. (These British Overseas Territories are also associate members of OECS: Anguilla, Montserrat, and the British Virgin Islands).

All of these countries are opening their borders to welcome Dominican citizens to their shores during this hurricane recovery crisis.

“Citizens of Dominica have a right of entry into Antigua and other OECS countries and an automatic six-month stay and must present their passport, driver’s license or voter’s identification card to allow entry”. – St Lucia Times

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Dominica is also a member-state of CariCom or the Caribbean Community, in concert with the other 12 Anglophone sovereign countries, plus Haiti and Suriname.

Many of these countries – in a pledge of regional brotherhood – are opening their borders to welcome Dominican citizens to their shores during this hurricane recovery crisis.

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