Independence and the National Question - Dominica Academy of ...

unity as explained above; so too we can. Those common nationalistic
principles should include a focus on:
1. Teaching of civics in and out of schools
2. Promotion of volunteerism in the national interest
3. Promotion of integrity driven government and rule of law
4. Promotion of Dominica as a meritocratic state
5. Development of a national patriotic education
6. Development of Dominica’s fisheries, agriculture, light
industry and merchant marine
7. Promote Dominica as a showplace of renewable energy
science
8. Includes members of the opposition in commissions and
other meaningful facets of the development process
9. Provide representation in parliament for the Diaspora
Dominican communities and a financial system which
develops that linkage.
10. Promote an economic system where the state fosters social
equity; as in the greatest good for the greatest number
11. Ensure the commanding heights of the economy are owned
and managed in the national interest with said income
benefitting the majority of our citizens not a narrow elite;
12. Promote a culture of excellence, innovation, disciplined
productivity and a love of justice for all; not some.
While that list is not exhaustive it provides a good template upon which we
can all agree and from which we can work. We can also dust off the
Integrated Development Plan (IDP) and the Diaspora Policy Paper (DPP)
and formally take guidance from those documents which were prepared at
government request and seem to be languishing in some dead zone.
While the coming together of our political leaders is hard to do, we have
done it before when faced with crisis. With low production, a floundering
banana industry, and high unemployment, we are at a point crisis now;
though we have been partly shielded from its bitter bite by Venezuela’s
generous budgetary support, European Union (EU) assistance and the gifts
from foreign allies such as China. But we cannot prosper by aid alone and
we must be prepared to quickly build up our agriculture, industry to meet the
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