Promises on Paper, Potholes in Practice: 2025 Budget Under Scrutiny

The Minister for Finance, Hon. Irving McIntyre, stood in Parliament and read the numbers with confidence. Some clapped. Some nodded. Some dozed. But out here in the real Dominica, where the price of a carton of back-and-neck has climbed and bus drivers quietly raise their fares, that budget speech felt like it came from another country altogether.

Yes, the figures look tidy. A projected recurrent revenue of $1.13 billion. A recurrent expenditure of $1.02 billion. A primary surplus. Bravo. But Dominicans do not eat fiscal surpluses. We do not live in macroeconomic forecasts. We live in Pottersville, where rain floods the drains, in Marigot, where young men sit around in Sams Gutter for lack of anything else to do, and in Castle Bruce, where a mother cannot find school shoes for all her children at once. So when Honourable Dr. Irving McIntyre says this national budget is “About You, For You,” I want to ask: who exactly is “you”?

Let’s take housing. According to the budget, $43.7 million is allocated for the construction of climate-resilient homes. That’s a noble goal. But where is the public breakdown of who gets these homes and how they are allocated? In Petite Savanne, a young woman I know still bathes using a bucket behind her house and cooks on a coal pot. In Roseau, contractors affiliated with the Dominica Labour Party appear to secure the major contracts again. We cannot discuss climate resilience while basic fairness in access remains a rumour. And please, do not tell us about “community engagement” if the selection process is still locked in opaque backroom deals.

Healthcare is another flashy line. Over $80 million budgeted. But where is the transparency in procurement? Where are the quarterly public reports on how much has been spent and on what? You can name new clinics and expansion plans all you want, but if there’s still no dialysis machine working at full capacity and nurses are leaving faster than they’re trained, then your budget is just a press release, not a cure.

I also looked closely at the agricultural numbers. Yes, the increase to $34.2 million looks nice. But we heard the same thing in 2023. And yet, black sigatoka remains a problem. Farmers still struggle to get fertiliser on time. Access roads to feeder farms remain half-done. The support feels like lip service unless followed by serious, monitored implementation. The young farmers in Kalinago Territory, for example, have vision and land, but not tools, financing, or faith in the Ministry’s ability to deliver. Throwing money into a line item without direct structural change is like watering concrete.

Education? Same pattern. A $73 million allocation sounds generous. But I’m asking: how much of that truly goes into ensuring that every child, from Paix Bouche to Grand Fond, has internet that works, classrooms that don’t leak, and teachers who aren’t burnt out or underpaid? Technology investments are good, yes, but don’t sideline the core: qualified teachers, fair access, and safe schools.

What’s hardest to accept is the silence around corruption. Not one word on governance reform. Not one commitment to pass campaign finance legislation, to audit CBI projects publicly, or to limit the conflicts of interest between Parliament and procurement. That is a dangerous omission. We are not children, and Dominicans deserve clean governance.

This budget was an opportunity. An opportunity to tell the truth about our condition, to invite all sectors into rebuilding Dominica, and to acknowledge where the government must improve. Instead, we got another tidy performance in the House. But outside Parliament, our potholes still deepen. Our youth still migrate. Our hope still thins.

This article is copyright © 2025 DOM767