SXMElections.com

ROSEAU, Dominica--A war of words has erupted between the ruling Dominica Labour Party (DLP) and the main opposition United Workers Party (UWP) over who caused the multi-million-dollar fire that destroyed communications equipment at the Douglas Charles Airport, north of here, on Wednesday.

Prime Minister and DLP leader Roosevelt Skerrit addressing a political rally here on Wednesday night, told supporters that they are fully aware of who should take the blame for the fire that the Dominica Fire and Ambulance Services said had been a suspected case of arson.

"I want Dominicans to answer: Who do you think burn down the tower at Captain Bruce, ladies and gentleman? Who do you think burn down the two million [EC dollars – EC $1=US $0.37 – Ed.] communication tower at the airport?" Skerrit asked supporters, saying he now has to go and source the money required to replace the burnt equipment.

"As prime minister I have to find EC $2 million to replace the communication tower, EC $2 million that could rebuild roads, that could buy fertiliser for farmers, that could build homes for the poor people of Dominica," he said.

Skerrit said that he now had to find the money, "because some people burnt down the communications tower and you like me know who the people are and that is why we shall go out on the polls on Election Day and ensure that the Labour Party wins a landslide victory."

UWP leader Lennox Linton had, at a rally of his party over the last weekend, urged supporters to travel to the airport to meet with the returning nationals in a bid to get them to stay away from the polls.

"We have a democracy to protect; we have a vote to protect from criminal behaviour. We have a vote to protect from an illegal overseas vote – from violation of the House of Assembly Elections Act in Dominica that Roosevelt Skerrit and his gangs are threatening to use and take the result of the election in their favour," he said.

Linton has since decided against carrying out the planned action at the airport and has written to the police urging them to carry out an investigation into the allegations of possible bribery during the elections.

At a news conference Thursday, Linton told reporters the UWP "categorically" denies any involvement in the fire and was awaiting the outcome of the police investigation into the matter.

"The prime minister speaks for himself obviously; he knows who [set the fire – Ed.] and we fully expect that the prime minister will be sharing with the police authority exactly what he knows about this fire, because we know nothing about it," Linton said, adding that he was unaware of the location of the gutted building.

"It is a very unfortunate development. We await the results of the investigations by the authorities to determine exactly what happened, but to the extent that it has been suggested that there was arson involved ... we totally and absolutely without reservation condemn it."

Linton hinted at the possible involvement of the hierarchy of the DLP in the fire, recalling that a few years ago he had come under investigation based on allegations made by a prominent lawyer attached to the DLP.

Linton said that his party had signed a code of conduct for the election "which asked politicians to stay away from crime, to stay away from the intimidation of voters and stay away from violence; and every day that passes we see Labour Party being involved in one way or another in some act of bribery, in some act of intimidation or some threat of violence...

"We are fully confident that consistent with the exultations of the Dominica Christian Council in that code, the people of Dominica, totally, absolutely oppose and reject the Roosevelt Skerrit administration, not just for its performance failure, but perhaps importantly for the behaviour it has brought into this election campaign."

Linton said that the UWP could win as many as 15 of the 21 seats being contested in Monday's general election. In the 2009 poll, the UWP won only three seats.

During the public meeting on Wednesday night, Prime Minister Skerrit announced a 5 per cent wage increase for public servants, saying that the increase is due to pledges by "two friendly governments" to provide budgetary support for Dominica.

Skerrit said he had already informed government negotiators to increase the offer to the Dominica Public Service Union (DPSU) and the Dominica Teachers Association (DTA) from 0 per cent over the next three years to 5 per cent.

"I am therefore delighted to be in a position tonight to announce to you and to the country that effective Thursday, the fourth day of December 2014, the government's offer to public service unions and therefore by extension to all public officers in Dominica, shall be 3 per cent in the first year, 1 per cent in the second year and 1 per cent in the third year."

But Linton said that the announcement showed that the "election was slipping away" from the ruling DLP and that the wage increase to public workers was nothing more than a gimmick.

"Mr. Skerrit is now indicating that he has the money to do it and public officers are correctly asking the conference, 'Where was that money all along?'" he added. ~ Caribbean360 ~