THE Caribbean Community (CARICOM) on Friday condemned acts of violence and vandalism which led to the destruction of several properties, including businesses, in Dominica on Tuesday.Chairman of CARICOM, President David Granger, in a statement said while CARICOM recognises the right of citizens to engage in peaceful protest, acts of vandalism and violence will not be condoned.
“The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) is deeply distressed at the violence which broke out in Dominica following a public meeting on Tuesday, 7 February,” the statement said.
CARICOM’s Chairman also urged all citizens to act with “restraint and maintain the orderly and peaceful society to which Dominicans and the wider Community are accustomed.”
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit has accused the two main opposition parties on the island of attempting to overthrow his administration. On Wednesday, he was quoted as saying that his party, the Dominica Labour Party (DLP), will not be removed from office unless by elections.
Opposition supporters have called for Prime Minister Skerrit to resign, but Skerrit maintains that he will only be removed by an election.
“I am saying to people in Dominica, that nobody or groups of individuals are going to get [me] out or my government out without going through the ballots. Never take my silence for weakness. I am measured with my approach with life …as the leader of the country, let it be known that there should be no actions on the part of individuals of Dominica to overthrow this government.
“So if that’s what is their intention, I am sending a message to them: they better re-think their plans. But this action last night was planned, it was calculated and it was executed,” the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC) quoted Skerrit as saying at the 24th annual general meeting of the Agricultural Industrial and Development (AIDB) Bank.
Opposition , Lennox Linton, had also condemned the “violence and vandalism” in the Dominican capital on Tuesday night and denied that his party had a role in getting protestors to set fires and loot several buildings.