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A quiet start but an auspicious existence

Apr 02, 2011 Editorial

Some events pass without fanfare but some make a splash. Sometimes the arrival of some organization also passes quietly. During their existence these organizations’ sometimes go about their business almost unnoticed because their birth was also a matter of quiet introduction to the society.
But like a cancer, these organizations eat their way into the fabric of the society until they become household names. This is because the initial few people who are forced to seek the services of these organizations soon spread the word and before long there are more converts, more adherents to the faith.
Twenty-five years ago, a man had an idea that he could provide funding for people who wanted to creep out from the dependence mode and who would in no way have been able to access lending institutions. Those set up by the government were beginning to collapse because borrowers were reluctant to make repayments.
Indeed, the country had cultivated a breed of people who felt that theirs was the lot to be provided with gifts from the powers that be or from anyone who happened to cast an eye in their direction. It was in this environment that the Institute of Private Institute Development came into existence twenty-five years ago.
The founder, Dr Yesu Persaud, said that he was trying to promote the resurrection of a vibrant private sector from a system in which the public sector was dominant, controlling some ninety per cent of the economy. Those were the days of the corporations and other public sector enterprises. But these were slowly collapsing in an economy that was being starved of funds.
There were many who could not gain employment in the public sector and needed that push to become successful self employed persons. They could not access banks and there were not many sources of funding. IPED itself had no money; it was only an idea but that changed with the first inflows, some from overseas supporters and some from a few locals who were prepared to invest in something because the society did not have scope for such capitalist activities.
The majority of the people now engaged in the poultry industry owe their success to IPED as do the many farmers because these happen to constitute the largest of small entrepreneurs who want that push to become self supporting.
Today, IPED is touted as a success by some international lending agencies; it employs 86 people compared to the one when the body started 25 years ago; and it has more than $2 billion in assets. Its profit is a whopping $162 million.
This means that no longer does IPED need financial support from friends and international donors, This is because the people behind it made no bones about chasing after the money that the organization made available. Even more important, it thoroughly screened those who wanted to borrow.
And should there be the need for litigation IPED is not reluctant to march the recalcitrant borrower before the courts. Such is the nature of business; this is why some say that government makes for poor businessmen. The government lending institutions failed because in the first instance the money did not come out of their pocket.
People in the public sector in Guyana do not recognize the need to work assiduously to protect national assets with the result that many public enterprises fail. And the failure is not confined to the smaller ones.
GuySuCo, the bauxite company, the Government-owned timber company, its fishing company and the list goes on. It would have been remarkable if the people who managed these industries were skilled enough to ensure their success, if they could have avoided political dictation and placed people appropriately.

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