The Peoples Democratic Movement, Commonwealth of Dominica (PDM)

PDM Press Statements

The Garbage Bins Scandal

The purchase of 2,700 garbage bins in the United States of America from the brother of a sitting Minister of Government at a cost of half a million Eastern Caribbean dollars more than they could be obtained elsewhere is merely the latest of a long and continuing series of scandals in which the Skerrit Administration has been involved since it came into office. And the Prime Minister’s statement on Tuesday night that the administrative and accounting officers in the Ministry of Finance responsible for procuring the bins did nothing wrong shows the utter contempt and total disrespect he continues to have for the people of Dominica.

Sisters and brothers: History and present day politics globally and in the Caribbean are full of cases where a Government, if it wants to obtain money to put towards a coming electoral campaign or to hold a Party convention or to fill the pockets of individual Ministers and favoured supporters, all it has to do is this.

It goes in search of a Company that has links with persons in Government. It then undertakes to procure goods from that Company at a price that is considerably higher than what the goods actually sell for on the market. Next, Government pays the Company at that higher price. The Company now buys the goods at the lower market price. In that way, the Company makes a huge profit on the deal. And, finally, the profit is shared between the Company and a contact person chosen by Government. Nothing more, except strict secrecy, is required.

We in P.D.M believe this to be exactly what happened in the garbage bins affair. Prime Minister Skerrit took it upon himself to buy bins abroad for the Roseau Town Council. The idea came from the Prime Minister rather than from the Town Council by resolution. Take note that the Council is headed by Cecil Joseph, Vice President of the ruling Labour Party.

The Company selected by Government goes by the name of Logistical Supplies Solutions Inc; a business owned by Andre Dopwell and said to have been operating in Pennsylvania in the United States of America. The Company was not duly registered in either the United States or here in Dominica. More than this, Andre Dopwell is the brother of Minister Colin McIntyre.

The Company sent an invoice to Government as to what the bins would cost. At a price of US$ 102.00 per bin the total cost, including for shipping and other charges, amounted to EC$750,000, that is to say, three –quarters of a million Eastern Caribbean dollars. The money was then paid not to Logistical Supplies Solutions Inc. but in the name of Andre Dopwell, the individual.

In fact, the market price was in the region of US$16.00 per bin. So, the 2,700 bins could have been obtained by a company other than the Dopwell outfit at a total cost of 250,000 Eastern Caribbean dollars. In effect, the Minister’s brother would make a profit of $500,000 Eastern Caribbean dollars. In that way, you and us, the hard-working taxpayers of Dominica, would be robbed of one-half a million Eastern Caribbean dollars in just this one deal.

Sisters and Brothers. These are the facts which Prime Minister Skerrrit went on radio to defend last night. This was a clear case of misuse of the hard-earned money of taxpayers of our country. This was compelling evidence for investigation by our Director of Public Prosecutions with a view to dragging the thieves, their accomplices and their aiders and abettors before the Courts. This was a massive fraud which, had it taken place in the United Kingdom, would have caused the Minister for Finance to resign from office immediately. It should be noted that the Speaker of the U.K House of Commons, as Officer-in-Charge, has just resigned because of the arbitrary manner in which parliamentarians have used public funds made available to them for expenses incurred in the line of public duty.

But not here in Dominica. Our political culture would have none of this. It means nothing to the Minister of Finance and Prime Minister, that one-half a million of taxpayer’s money has been blatantly stolen. So what if Andre Dopwell, the supplier of the goods is brother of a Government Minister? Mr. Skerrit sees this to be of no consequence because in his view, the Minister had nothing to do with the transaction. Never mind that in early 2009 Government had imported container loads of fertilizer from the same Dopwell, when his brother was the country’s Minister of Agriculture. We are left to wonder how many hundreds of thousands of dollars might have been drained from the Treasury by that fertilizer transaction. And we can just imagine how much of this went into the bank accounts of Ministers of Government and their favoured supporters.

As far as the Prime Minister was concerned, dealing with Dopwell was not against the law. Ethics, that is to say, conduct becoming of persons holding high pubic office. What ethics? The record shows that the ruling Party does not know the meaning of the word! After all, didn’t the brother of a Government Minister get a contract to reconstruct quarters at Princess Margaret Hospital, even though he was the least experienced of the bidders and his quotation was the highest? And didn’t the Mayor of Roseau blatantly and, without any apology at all, award his father a contract to reconstruct sidewalks in the City?

Moreover, what if Logistical Solutions Inc. was not, in fact, a duly registered company either in the United States or here in Dominica? So what? Our Prime Minister asked. He was not bothered after all. It is not a crime for Government to procure public supplies from an unregistered company or, for that matter, from an individual supplier.

For the Minister of Finance and Prime Minister, there was nothing wrong with the manner in which the deal was transacted. Of course, he was quick to make it clear that he could not be accused of corruption. Yes, he was the Minister responsible. But the transaction was not done by him personally. The administrative and accounting officers in the Ministry of Finance had been provided with documents dealing with the matter. And from all accounts, according to him, they had carried out their work competently and with due diligence.

Never mind that the purchase of the garbage bins had not been tendered. And, it was of no consequence that the only document provided was an invoice from Dopwell’s company. Never mind that the invoice did not give details as to the type of bins Government wished the Company to supply. And it mattered not to Mr. Skerrit that the public officers in question did not see fit to cross-check the market price of the bins.

The Prime Minister for obvious reasons chose not to address these critical questions before the listening public. For him, they were not important. Instead, he spent time claiming that his Administration was transparent and had nothing to hide because the matter of the purchase of the bins had been placed before Parliament for approval.

What he did not say was that the details of the transaction were not made known to parliamentarians. And questions from the Opposition intended to shed light on the matter were not answered.

Moreover, to give the impression that Government was concerned about the well-being of the people, the Prime Minister drew attention to the fact that the public can now have the bins at a subsidized price of $36.00.

The Prime Minister also told listeners of correspondence which passed between the Government and the Supplying Company. In one letter, Government informed the Company that the number of bins received was about 500 less than had been paid for. In another, Government complained that the bins received were not what Government expected. And, in yet another, the Supply Company indicated that it would now revalue the bins at their known market price rather than at the original price stated on the invoice. And, in the circumstances, it would make a re-imbursement to Government.

What Prime Minister Skerrit should have told the nation is that these letters were written after the theft of the half a million dollars had been made known to Dominicans here and overseas. It is certain that had the matter not been brought to light, half a million dollars of our money would have fraudulently gone to the Supply Company and its co-conspirators in Government. And the people of Dominica would be non the wiser.

The P.D.M, therefore, in the strongest possible terms condemns this latest case of gross misconduct by persons in high public office, led by Prime Minister Skerrit.

Even more firmly, we condemn the Prime Minister’s attempt on radio to mislead the nation and sweep the matter under the carpet, as he has done in the past.

So far as we know, never before in the history of our country has Government been the architect of fraud on such a massive scale. Never before has the reputation of our country been so tarnished in the eyes of the world. We believe that Mr. Skerrit has now outlived his usefulness to Dominica as Minister of Finance and, more so, Prime Minister. And we call on him to step aside and give our people a chance for meaningful change.

We say, further, that judged by his past reactions to public criticism of Government’s management of the economy and its governance of the country, Prime Minister Skerrit will not be persuaded by public statements or calls for President Liverpool to “warn” him as to his conduct of the affairs of State unless these actions are backed up by peaceful, non-violent public protests of one kind or an other.

P.D.M believes, therefore, that the time has come for those in opposition and patriotic Dominicans on the whole to focus their energies on mobilizing the masses to take to the streets on such a scale that their voices will be heard loudly and clearly, and their numbers will be counted.

William Para Riviere (PhD)
Political Leader, PDM
June 3rd 2009

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