Banning student borrowers not supported by the law—President Granger

Aug 06, 2016 News

Despite knowing that “we need the money,” President David Granger is not willing to endorse Minister of

President David Granger

Finance, Winston Jordan’s threat to bar University of Guyana loan defaulters from leaving the country.
Why not? Because barring such people from leaving the country on this basis is illegal.
During his recent appearance on the Public Interest show, Granger said that there must be another way to deal with defaulters.
About a week ago, Jordan boldly announced that loan defaulters will be barred from leaving the country. But on the Public Interest, Granger said that Jordan’s announcement is not supported by the law. The President added, “In that regard I am obliged to take the side of the law.”
Granger said that however good Jordan’s intention was is irrelevant; because, “If it is not lawful it cannot be enforced.”
The Head of State said that there must be other measures that the government can rely on to get students to repay their loans. “I can understand his (Jordan) frustration, because we need the money and it is meant to be a revolving fund,” said Granger. The President noted the fact that defaulters are preventing the well being of others.
“If students, for several years at a time, do not pay their loans, they eventually deprive other students from drawing from that shrinking pool.”
Be that as it may, the President still said, “We must move away from banning and use other persuasive and less coercive measures.”
Granger said that while the government is trying and the fund has to be maintained, “some persons seem to have set their minds against repayment.”
He said there is a very good chance that many of the persons who were granted loans were unsuitable in the first place. Granger said that the government may now have to look to the persons who signed as guarantors for the various loan defaulters.

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