Dominica Police Use Tear Gas as Truckers Block Main Highway Into Capital

ROSEAU, Dominica – Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit Wednesday met with  representatives of the Tipper Truckers Association, (TTA), as police officers in riot gear used teargas in a bid to end protest action by truckers, who used their vehicles earlier to block the main highway on the west coast of the island, leaving hundreds of people stranded and unable to travel to work and school.

Truckers used their vehicles to block one of the main highways leading into and out of the capital, Roseau, on Wednesday (CMC Photo)A statement issued by the Office of the Prime Minister on Wednesday night, quoted Skerrit as reaffirming the government’s “commitment to addressing the truckers’ concerns, recognizing the essential role they play in the progress” of the construction of the international airport project.

The truckers have in the past accused the Skerrit government of favouring foreign trucking firms on national projects and from early Wednesday they parked their dump and trailer trucks across the lanes on the EO Leblanc Highway, blocking access into  and out of the capital.

“We are hoping that some commonsense will prevail. Our position still remains the same. We really would want to have guarantees that every  time there is a project on island that we have some form of say in it.

“We all have to eat and survive in the same country,” said Everson Magloire of the Tipper Truckers Association, as he sought shelter from the teargas dispersed by the police at Canefield, three miles north of the capital.

“As long as the government has a contract, give it to any company, we the locals need 80 per cent of the work, that’s what we want,” said another trucker.

The statement issued by the Office of the Prime Minister noted that a “consensus was reached to revise the rates for trucking services on the international airport project.

“The Government of Dominica remains committed to transparency and open communication with truckers and other stakeholders involved in national construction projects, ensuring opportunities for local engagement,” it added.

Residents in nearby communities say that they have been affected by the teargas, with one woman saying “I was in my house with my seven children …when the teargas started coming in.

“We have seven young children under the age of 12, a bay just a year old experiencing this kind of thing. It has been very bad,” she told reporters.

One of the protestors said he is disappointed with the  action of the police “because there was no need to use tear gas against us”

Attorney Ronald  Charles, representing one of the truckers who had been arrested, said his client had been charged with “assault and released on station bail”.

He said his client was beaten and he has since advised that he seek medical attention.

“He will appear in court tomorrow where the charge will be read to him and we will take it from there,”  Charles said.