Dominica : The so-called “RED CLINIC” (RC) said to be conducted weekly by Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit has come in for some harsh criticism in one local publication.
“It is a deliberate ploy to keep people mentally and psychologically poor,” someone calling himself/herself OBSERVER writes in a letter submitted to Monday’s edition of the Sun newspaper.
According to OBSERVER, what is dished out at the Wednesday RED CLINIC is “money (dry cash), also upon request monies or cash of up to $2,000.00, sometimes $5,000.00 well packaged in envelopes and escorted to the source, by a special courier delivered to party and PM loyalists”.
Calling the process abusive, the letter writer says people who should be encouraged to study on seek better paying jobs spend more time “queuing up now in great numbers at the entrance hall of the Financial Centre in Roseau for handouts from the scarce resources of the state controlled by one man under the disguise of helping the poor”.
The controversial clinic also finds space elsewhere in the May 21 edition of the SUN.
The paper says despite vociferous criticism from the political opposition, the RED CLINIC continues and may be intensifying.
“An average of 100 people attend the event each week” the paper quotes a public servant as confirming.
“The prime minister has vowed to continue the weekly practice of giving cash handouts directly to the Dominican people from his office,” the back page article states.
The requests from “needy” Dominicans are said to include funds for medical treatment, payment of debt, assistance for education expenses, purchase of groceries and more.
Opposition concerns mentioned suggest that the programme is an attempt by Prime Minister Skerrit to buy votes, and that it creates beggars.
Other critics, including a well-known health official, have suggested that the RC is “dehumanizing, contributing to the deterioration of the mental health of the Dominican people”.
However the government view, also represented, describes the cash handout initiative as a “social protection programme” that’s well structured, with those attending the clinic having to show proof of what’s needed.
OBSERVER, whose letter may have served to shine the spotlight on the RC, is not convinced.
The writer concludes that “the way out of dependency is not the way up the long winding stairs of the PM’s office, or to the official residence at Morne Bruce, or at the then temporary residence at Castle Comfort, or from the personal residence at Vieille Case”.
While the Skerrit administration insists it is helping out those in need, it is being advised that such a programme should be done through the Social Welfare Department.
OBSERVER questions the motive behind the weekly cash offering.
“What an imposition, what dirty politics, and how low can a government bring women, families and vulnerable people down to that street level of vagrancy,” the writer queries.
That kind of criticism is however not likely to reduce the weekly Wednesday queue when Dominicans with financial needs grasp the opportunity to appeal directly to the prime minister for financial assistance.
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