WHEN MONEY WAS MEETING MONEY UNDER THE UWP

by Celia Gordon

The young people under the age of 25 may not quite understand what the adults mean, when they reminisce of the good old days under the UWP when “MONEY WAS MEETING MONEY.”

I am old enough to know, so please allow me the opportunity to explain.

The UWP won the general elections in  Dominica in 1995 and formed the government during the period 1995 to 2000.

I remember the night when it was announced that the UWP was victorious at the polls. I saw men, women,  children cry.  They  hugged each other and praised God openly with shouts of gratitude and praise.

The UWP government hit the ground running from day one. The new government put Dominicans to work. It started by increasing investments in the agricultural and tourism sectors, in particular the  banana industry.

Anyone who had a plot of land was motivated to get involved in agriculture, including those with a full time job.

Agriculture and tourism were everybody’s business.  Policemen,  firemen,  teachers,  lawyers,  civil servants became farmers too because there was money to be made from agriculture. This was not just limited to bananas but there was a boom in the cultivation of non-banana crops like citrus fruits, avocado pears, passionfruit and root crops like dasheen and ginger etc.

To accompany the increase in production of agricultural produce, new markets were successfully sought and money was circulating. The farmers, the hucksters, shopkeepers everybody was doing well. Money was meeting money.

The Geest boats came to Portsmouth, and Roseau harbors to export our produce on a weekly or fortnightly basis and our farmers got paid every fortnight.

On weekends, the hucksters or ‘hackers’  purchase agricultural products like dasheen, yams, limes, avocado etc. directly from the farms and transport the produce to neighboring countries like Antigua, Guadeloupe,Martinique, St. Maarteen for sale.

Farmers had money to buy new pick up trucks in cash, the mom and paps shops were thriving, bus drivers, taxi operators,  barbers, hairdressers, builders,  carpenters, mechanics were experiencing the benefits of increased circulation of wealth in the growing economy…..money was meeting money!

Within the family unit, there were various sources of legitimate income. Those who were  employed on a fulltime basis  as civil servants, policemen or in the private sector provided employment opportunities for farm labourers and people had real productive jobs unlike the NEP of today.

Many persons have confessed that they did not touch the salaries from their fulltime employment as the income from farming was more than sufficient to supplement their needs. They could maintain their families independent of government’s handouts, which did not exist then.
Dominicans were more independent then. Dominicans had a clear conscience and a voice. They were a proud people and they could speak freely.

Unfortunately, we have become a very mendicant and dependent society. We have mothing to depend on.

Therefore, our people are convinced that it is time to build Dominica again. Time to elect the only political party with the mindset, willingness, capabilities to bring development to Dominica.

It is time to get Dominicans back to earning money for themselves. It is time to stop the begging culture from taking root in Dominica. It is  time for change. People are ready to vote  UWP/ Team Dominica to  bring Dominica from beggars days to better days. We us make money meet money