Dominica’s PM clarifies funding of island’s first international airport

Dominica’s prime minister has reiterated the role of the developer in the construction of the island’s first international airport, in a bid to be more transparent to his constituents about the project’s progress and funding.

At the last press conference on Friday, prime minister Roosevelt Skerrit answered a question from the media about how much of the 1.3 billion dollar budget has been spent on the project.

He reminded the people in the room that the government of Dominica entered an agreement with private developing company MMC Development Ltd. “to build the airport on behalf of the people of Dominica” and is the one responsible to use the Citizenship by Investment (CBI) programme to fund the airport.

“It is the developer who has to use our CBI programme to raise the finances for the construction of the airport,” Skerrit explained. “As it is, the developer is the one who would assign the contract with the contractor to build the international airport.”

“There is no financial or legal liability in respect to the engagement of the contractor by the people of Dominica. The liability rests solely and absolutely with the developer,” Skerrit emphasized.

Skerrit added that the contractor has been paid its mobilization fee.

MMC Development, Ltd. is a Dubai-based company that signed an agreement with Dominica in 2021 to begin the construction of the highly-anticipated international airport.

The company has helped Dominica rebuild itself after back-to-back catastrophes that brought the island down to its knees. Thousands of houses for residents, and more infrastructure in education, healthcare, and transportation have been built under the supervision of MMC Development Ltd., earning the trust of Skerrit’s government in managing its largest project to date.

The contractor, China Railway No.5 Engineering Group Co., Ltd. (CR5) won the EC $1 billion-plus contract for the Dominica International Airport project in a 2022 bid.