Frequent Traveller to Dominica: My Impressions

Three and a half weeks ago I returned from my journey to Dominica and since then I am thinking about writing a letter to a newspaper in Dominica.

I'm living in Switzerland and I am a frequent traveller to Dominica in the last 15 years. Over the years a lot of friendships developed in Dominica and my friends keep on telling me that I'm Dominican. I would like to tell you my impressions I had during the 2 1/2 weeks I was in DA.

First, I realized that's it not easier to travel to the island than before. I was thinking that LIAT improves their services to the island but the opposite was the case. I lost a lot of time and some money because of the unprofessional way this Airline operates (why is the government not interested to have a reliable service for tourists traveling to DA?) But that's a different story.

The reason I write to you is the lack of development and the wave of violence in Dominica during my stay. I travel to Dominica since the year 2000 and if I compare now and then I don't see big changes. Most things stay the same or get worse. There is not much of a future for a lot of Dominicans even if they have a job.

I have met a lot of frustrated people who have not much hope that their life will improve.

And I was shocked by the rate people are murdered or found dead somewhere. I am living in a city with more than 110,000 population and we have a much lower murder rate. It's making me sad to see that things like this are the only significant change in DA. I remember a time when the crime rate was very low.

Also the rising number of car accidents and injured or dead passengers should be an alarm sign for the authorities in DA. But I have never seen police controlling drivers for drunk driving or speeding. You will see rather a speeding police car.

I think these are topics that should be the focus because they're very destructive for a small society like Dominica.

I'm really concerned about what is going on in DA and I wish to see a brighter future for the Nature Island of the Caribbean.

Hanspeter Müller Switzerland