Former Government Minister Ian Pinard, who passed away on April 17, receives an official funeral today at the National Shrine of Our Lady of La Salette in Pointe Michel. The Government of Dominica accorded the service in recognition of his public service. State funerals are political occasions as much as personal ones, and the gathering today brings together a cross-section of Dominica’s political class for the first major public ceremony since the regional election cycle quieted.
Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit closed his week with attendance at the Caribbean Investment Summit 2026 in St Lucia, where he joined PM Mitchell of Grenada, PM Pierre of St Lucia, and PM Browne of Antigua and Barbuda among other regional leaders. The opening panel — “A New Era of Regulation: Teasing Out the Opportunities and Challenges for Caribbean CBI” — placed citizenship-by-investment programmes at the centre of the conversation. Dominica’s CBI receipts remain a load-bearing line in the national budget. Regulatory convergence across the Eastern Caribbean is a survival strategy, not just a coordination exercise.
The Government has published Volume 1, Number 1 of a new Health Climatic Bulletin. The first-issue framing matters: it signals an intent to make health-climate intersection a routine policy product, not an episodic response document. The format is now in place; the test is sustained publication.
Government has extended VAT exemptions and import duty waivers on essential goods until July 2026 as part of cost-of-living measures. The relief was first introduced in the 2025/2026 Budget to shield families and businesses from rising global prices amid Middle East tensions. Two-month VAT relief extensions are the language of holding pattern, not policy direction.
In Roseau, an early morning fire destroyed eight to nine buildings on Great Marlborough Street earlier this week. The scale of the loss is significant for a compact capital, and it puts urban fire response, building density, and uninsured commercial property risk back on the national conversation.
The Dominica Amateur Basketball Association announced that the country’s senior national team programme will continue, and a national championships schedule has been confirmed. The OECS Commission extended congratulations to OECS member states on the 44th anniversary of the regional grouping.
Mark today as Pinard’s day. Politics returns Monday.