The Weight of a Broken Word

Highlights

~ The Weight of a Broken Word is a follow-up interview with Cal Murad, Project Director of MMC Development Ltd., that an Arbitration Case against the Government of Dominica, “is not a decision we made lightly — arbitration is the last resort, and our arrival here reflects the seriousness of the issues at hand.”

In addition, there is the concern that on May 22, 2026, MMC Development issues an official statement – “MMCD formally confirms that no legal proceedings or arbitrations are CURRENTLY in effect against the government of Dominica.” […] This was an accurate statement of fact at the time.

Subsequently, events and circumstances that led to the issuance of the statement have changed. 

The article ‘MMCD – Government of Dominica at loggerheads over Airport Project’ conveyed many issues and the validity of WHY. 

On this occasion, the conversation and continued facts narrate – ‘The Weight of a Broken Word.’

By Special contributor

ROSEAU, Dominica – There is a particular kind of exhaustion that comes not from overwork, but from doing everything right and seeing it fall apart anyway. Project Director of MMC Development Ltd., Cal Murad, carries it quietly — in the careful pauses before he speaks, in the way he weighs every word, carefully and solicitously, that it might be costly.

Caribbean News Global (CNG) followed up with Murad for this conversation on a topic that is more complex than housing milestones and construction timelines.

“ We are here to talk about a broken agreement, an official public statement that confused the people, and a countdown, – if it reaches zero, it has the potential to silence the earthmovers on one of the Caribbean’s most consequential building sites.”

MMC Development Ltd’s international airport project in Dominica has become more than an infrastructure story. It has become a story about trust — between a contractor and government, between a government and its people, and between a small island nation and the international partners it needs to build the future it has promised itself.

Let’s get started!

Q: Mr Murad, in our March 30, 2026, publication, you disclosed that MMC Development Ltd initiated arbitration proceedings against the Government of Dominica. On May 22, 2026, MMC Development Ltd., issued an official statement that reads in part:  “… No legal proceedings or arbitrations are CURRENTLY in effect against the Government of Dominica.” How do you reconcile this?

A: That is a fair and important question, and the public deserves a straight answer. The statement was issued in good faith — because at that time, both parties had concluded verbally that the issues would be settled.

There had been direct discussions between MMC Development Ltd and representatives of the government, and those discussions had arrived at what we believed was a genuine mutual understanding. A resolution was on the table. The arbitration, we were led to believe, was a mechanism that would not need to be actuated. I want to be clear: we were not dishonest in issuing that statement. We issued it because the situation, as we understood it at the time, pointed towards resolution rather than escalation!

Q: Who initiated those verbal discussions? What exactly was proposed, and why did MMC Development Ltd., agree to communicate on the outstanding matters?

A: I would say that both parties came together in good-will. That is an important detail. These were not negotiations that MMC Development Ltd. pushed for or hoped for, since we believe we have a clear and precise agreement that should be honoured. We are directed by our board of directors to always show a cooperative spirit in the interest of completing the biggest project in the history of our firm. We were prepared to accept less than half of what we are legally entitled to under the contract.

Q: Less than half?

A: Yes! We are not a charity, but we understand the fiscal pressures Dominica faces. We want this project to continue to completion. We wanted to find a way through. So, we put a position on the table that represented a significant financial concession on our part — an act of good faith that, frankly, most developers or business entities in our position would not have made in a million years.

The concession was not only accepted by the other side (Government of Dominica) but also celebrated, as it would have signalled the end of the impasse with the government, succeeding in securing huge concessions. There was an understanding to initiate the process of settlement. And, hitherto, the Government did not honour it!

Q: When the government failed to honour that understanding, what happened next?

A: What happened next is what always happens when a commitment is broken — the formal protections that a contract provides become the only recourse. We were willing to work outside the strict letter of the agreement to find a human solution to a commercial problem. However, that door was closed when the Government of Dominica walked away from what had been discussed.

At that point, our legal obligations to our stakeholders, workforce, and partners required MMC to pursue the formal process. The arbitration was reactivated. It is a deeply frustrating place to be.

MMC recounted how concerning parties came so close to a resolution that would have kept this project moving. And the fact that, we are now in formal legal proceedings is not due to MMC Development Ltd., choosing confrontation. It is because the alternative we offered — the generous, conciliatory alternative that we ourselves put forward and agreed to by the other party — was not honoured.

Q: Where does the project stand right now?

A: This is a time of great uncertainty, and I’m not going to sugarcoat it! We are preparing for possible demobilisation. Our legal team will advise us on the precise timing and conditions, and we are also subject to the court’s discretion regarding the formal suspension of the contract. Based on where those processes currently stand, we are looking at August or September of this year as the likely window for that suspension to take effect. 

I want you to understand what demobilisation means in practical terms:

• It means withdrawing the equipment, personnel, and logistical infrastructure assembled on that site at enormous cost!

• It means work stops!

• It means that the airport project — this transformational project that Dominica has been building towards — goes quiet!

• And that every day that passes without resolution makes the eventual cost of resumption higher and the timeline longer. The clock is running, and it is running against everybody’s interests!

Q: Is MMC Development Ltd., genuinely committed to completing this project, or has the relationship with the Government of Dominica beyond repair?

A: I need you to hear and understand this clearly: MMC Development Ltd., wants to finish the Dominica International Airport, Full Stop! Not because of commercial interest alone, though of course this matters, but because we have been on this island through its worst moment and its long, hard recovery, and we understand what this project means.

• • We have poured concrete foundations for homes where Maria left rubble.
  • We have watched communities rebuild. We know the people of Dominica.
  • We know what they are waiting for: the completion of the airport. And to this, our commitment is real.

What is sad — and I use that word deliberately, because it is the honest one — is that the Government of Dominica is not honouring the legalities of the agreement that underpins everything. Not just the financial terms, but the framework of trust and accountability that makes any large infrastructure project possible.

Without that, our hands are tied. And, we, at MMC cannot continue operating under conditions that violate the contract we signed. In practical and legal terms, this puts our workforce and our obligations at risk. We want to build. We are being prevented from doing so by the very party that commissioned the build.

Permit me to reiterate: The interview ends, unlike before, “somewhere on a hillside in Dominica, earthmovers are still turning soil for an airport that will transform the lives of Dominicans for generations to come,” currently — the quiet anger in the room does not!

Insights

MMC Development Ltd., has made its position clear: it will fulfil every contractual obligation it has made. It will not walk away by choice. But it cannot stay where a contract is not honoured, where a verbal agreement is not kept, and where the legal framework that protects both parties — is treated as optional.

Conceivably, by August or September, if nothing changes and the window of opportunity to redress closes on MMC, before the light of a new airport, the Government of Dominica will have to explain its position, grudgingly.

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