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Fishermen seeking Govt.’s intervention in affairs of Greater Georgetown Co-op

Jun 27, 2016 News

Government’s intervention is being sought into the operation of the Greater Georgetown Fisherman Co-op. The Co-op is reportedly headed by Mohamed Mootozah Khan.
But according to a few members of the Co-op, Khan was placed at the helm of the entity on his own accord. According to a current member Maurice Teixeira, members, except for a few, have been denied deserving benefits.
The Co-op, according to him, at this point would have earned several millions since it facilitated several thriving operations including an ice factory and sale of fuel. “It probably earned billions by now,” Teixeira told this publication recently.
Also the assets of the Co-op include an account with the now defunct Guyana National Coop Bank which was liquidated in 2003 reportedly with hundreds of millions of dollars. Among the known assets are transported properties including wharves and buildings at Meadow Bank and Rosignol, for which the members claim that they are unable to access copies of transports. The Co-op also reportedly owned another building at 26 Lombard Street.
The Co-op was formed 42 years ago.
However, Teixeira said that things changed for the worse when a new Government was elected in 1992.  It was at this time, Teixeira related, that Khan assumed control of the Coop. This meant that Khan was elevated to Chairman and also acted as the Treasurer and Secretary following the demise of one Sallim Hallim (former chairman) and George Ramsey (former Treasurer).
But according to him, there are still about eight existing members who should have a say in the operation of the Coop.
The members have sought the intervention of Social Protection Minister, Ms. Volda Lawrence. In a letter dated March 15, 2016, which was sent to the Social Protection Minister, and seen by this publication, Teixeira writing on behalf of members, appealed for “immediate intervention”.  In the letter it was pointed out that the issue surrounding the Co-op has remained the same for the past 23 years.
“We the membership over the years pleaded and beseeched the Office of the Chief Coop Officer to request an audit and Annual General meeting of the Society in accordance with our constitution to no avail, our complaints fell on deaf ears,” said Teixeira in the missive.
He detailed in the letter that “we (members of the Co-op) firmly believe that all of our records, etc., sent to the then Chief Co-op Officer would not be available and further we have no confidence in the Office of the Chief Coop Officer and Team.”
According to Teixeira, in the letter to the Minister too, “we have started our own investigations to the best of our ability. In January of 2016 we sent a letter to the current Chief Co-op Officer to determine the status of the Co-op based on newspapers reports of 2014 that the previous administration was going to dissolve our Coop.”
But Teixeira said that “We were informed by letter dated March 11, 2016 that our Co-op was still on the Register of the Cooperative Societies…As a direct result we are requesting a forensic audit of the activities of the Co-op and a suspension of all activities by Mr Khan.”
Teixeira is hopeful that the issues surrounding the Co-op will gain the attention of President Granger who he believes would intervene swiftly. “I have seen President Granger on the news saying that he intends to stamp out corruption and this right here is nothing but corruption,” said the Teixeira.

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