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In our short and storied history, Dominica has had seven prime ministers since our independence in 1978. The first, Patrick John, led Dominica immediately after its independence as PM, followed by Oliver Seraphin who served as interim PM the year after (1979-1980) when widespread protest led to Mr. John’s resignation. Dame Mary Eugenia Charles, who followed Mr. Seraphin, was the Caribbean’s first woman prime minister to be elected in her own right. Two Prime Ministers died while serving their terms – Roosevelt Douglas and Pierre Charles.
And prior to the almost 20-year elected reign of Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit, Dominica was served for one term (officially a little under 5 years) by former Prime Minister Edison James. I have met Mr. James a few times. The first time I saw him since he’d been PM was when he visited our home in Salisbury after my father Clifford George died in May 2010. Mr. James is one of only two former prime ministers of Dominica still alive (Mr. Seraphin is also alive but no longer lives in Dominica). He’s 81 now and the news that he’d been briefly jailed in February 2024 on a charge of incitement stunned me (the case has since been dismissed by a high court judge). I reached out to Mr. James to talk about his past, his present and about his vision for our lovely Dominica. The conversation was a fascinating historical journey into the mind of a brilliant man, who has served his country for well beyond half a century. And because there was so much to discuss, I have split the conversation into two parts. Here is part 1.
Note: Words in parentheses are additional context added by the author.
Q: You were born in Marigot in 1943. Curious as to your early years – who were your parents, what was Edison James like as a boy?
Mr. James: My parents were Patricia and David James. I was born in my grandmother’s house and my parents moved out when I was about two or three years old. My grandmother, Ella Andrew insisted that I stay with her, so I grew up with my grandmother. My grandmother died at the age of 89 shortly after I returned to Dominica from England. It’s like she waited for me to come back with my family so we could see her. I came back in 1973, and she died shortly after my return.
Q: So, you were educated in England; were both your bachelor’s and your master’s degrees earned there?
Mr. James: Yes. I did an undergrad (in botany and biochemistry) from London University, a master’s degree (in crop protection) from the University of Reading, and a post graduate diploma (in pest management) from Imperial College University of London.
Q: You chose to come back to Dominica after some time in England. What made you come home?
Mr. James: What I have said in that regard is that when I went to England, the plane delayed a little bit on the tarmac, and they kept me for that long – meaning I went to England and always intended to come back. My mind was initially on doing a PhD and then coming back but I delayed a year starting my further studies and that kept me back. I had promised my father I would come back in 10 years and wanted to keep that promise. I wanted to serve in Dominica; I did not have the desire to serve anywhere else. I had offers to go to other places, but I said no.
Q: When I first learned about you, it was about your experience as head of the Dominica Banana Marketing Cooperation (where my dad worked for over 25 years) which you led from 1980 to 1988. You were credited with helping to resuscitate the banana industry in Dominica post Hurricane David. Can you talk about that time and your leadership?
Mr. James: That period was described as the period from crisis to recovery. When I went in in 1980, this was just after Hurricane David which hit Dominica in 1979. Hurricane David brought the industry to its knees and the CDB (Caribbean Development Bank) had decided to fund a recovery program and decided that they wanted management of their choice to oversee the recovery. And that’s when they approached me.
Q: So, they approached you, but you took up the challenge; what were you thinking at the time?
Mr. James: When the hurricane came, several leaders who were approached turned down the role to lead the recovery. At the time I was working with CDB out of Dominica as the Farm Improvement Officer and was very comfortable doing that. Then Mike Douglas asked me about running the industry.
Q; Interesting – what was your view on Mike Douglas?
Mr. James: Mike Douglas was a kind guy. We got on very well and had a good relationship. Before UWP won the election in 1995, we would meet at the regional meeting for the leaders of opposition parties. It was called SCOPE – Standing Committee of Opposition Parties of the Eastern Caribbean. We would often meet there – he was the leader of the Labor Party; I was the leader of the UWP. We would meet there with the other leaders of the Eastern Caribbean. When he was later diagnosed with cancer and returned to Dominica from America, Julius (Timothy) and I went down to visit him at his home and spent some time with him. We asked him what he would like done in his memory; he told us to give him a road or something. We later named the Boulevard after him – the Michael Douglas Boulevard (in Picard, Portsmouth). We were political opponents but there was a lot of civility.
Q: Sorry, I digressed, let’s go back to the banana industry. You were a farmer, you ran DBMC for a while. What are your views about where the industry is in Dominica today?
Mr. James: The industry is nowhere. I suspect there are many people in Dominica now, 10 years, 15 years old, who don’t know how bananas are grown. The industry did not have to be where it is now. St Lucia still produces bananas at scale – maybe not as much as they did in the past, but still notable.
They talk about leafspot having ravaged Dominican bananas but in St. Lucia and Martinique south of us they’re producing bananas on a large scale. In Guadeloupe, north of us, they’re producing bananas on a large scale. I believe that the final demise came when the political hand was placed on the industry in that when there was a decision about who would manage at the time what was the relatively small banana industry, they gave it to a group of people who were not involved and who did not have the wherewithal to manage the banana industry. And that led to the total demise of the industry.
The government regime has given up on the banana industry. Yes, the market situation changed in England but if we had the commitment to the industry, it could still be thriving, not necessarily at the same level where it was at its peak, but it could still be at a level like in St Lucia, where it is sufficient to allow the farmers to make a living. But this is also a reflection of the discomfort that the government has with our people having a sufficient level of economic independence, and that allows the government to have such great control – because the more people in the country become dependent on them the more you can control them.
In the past, many people depended on the banana industry. The banana industry was very prominent in the economic life of the country and the welfare of the people It was a complicated industry to manage, there are so many aspects to it – you have your professional people, your laborers, your inventory; you have managers at different levels. We used to have a good team in place, people like your dad out there in the field (as a leafspot supervisor). We had a good team, and my job was to guide and lead.
Then at the regional level with respect to WINBAN (the Winward Islands Banana Growers Association), I was involved as leader in the negotiations with GEEST (British banana import company) which was tough at times but manageable.
Q: It’s mindboggling to me that we don’t have a banana industry anymore – it was such a significant part of our economy. I remember growing up and going to the farm, watching the guys packing a box, learning there was a right way to do it… all of it.
Mr. James: As you mentioned packing, there were programs and processes we implemented that made a difference. One of the things we did was to give the people who are involved in the harvesting some perks. So, for example, packers were able to earn a diploma for packing and handling. People were proud to have their certification. The program for the packers was deliberate, because packing was so important; after you did all of the things you needed to do in the field, packing was the last point and at the end you got paid on the quality of your produce. So, we wanted to give the packers some prestige that demonstrated the importance of their role.
I also made sure that I deliberately made the time to be there at the boxing plants at some point in the night, at the end of the long day – you might remember that the workers would be there packing up until midnight at times. I always made the time to ensure that people knew that I could be there at 10pm at night. That accomplished two things: 1) it made the managers know that they were expected to work hard, and 2) for the people in the industry, especially at those boxing plants working late, they would know that the management was with them and appreciated that they were working late. That was my thinking and my approach, the best way I thought to encourage them, to help them feel that they are part of something.
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In part two of this article, Mr. James and I discuss the founding of the United Workers Party, electoral reforms, his lessons learned, and what he would like to see for Dominica’s future. This conversation in many ways, was akin to taking a few pages out of our Dominican history, an opportunity to reflect on who we were, who we are and who we are becoming. Part II to follow soon.
You can reach Gizelle at [email protected].