GPSU threatens legal action if Trevor Benn not removed as Credit Union Head

Apr 09, 2021 News

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– Labour Minister Hamilton says Ministry has no such power

Kaieteur News – The Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU) has threatened to take legal action if Trevor Benn is not removed as Chairman of the Credit Union’s Interim Management Committee (IMC).

In a detailed statement, the GPSU noted that Benn has until April 11, 2021 – the date slated for the Credit Union’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) – to vacate the seat. According to the release, the GPSU said that the Guyana Public Service Cooperative Credit Union (GPSCCU) management has been calling for Benn’s removal as IMC Chairman at the much anticipated AGM, since he is facing criminal charges for misconduct in public office in connection with the illegal leasing of State lands.
Additionally, President of the GPSU Patrick Yarde said that Benn, the former Commissioner and Chief Executive Officer of the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission (GL&SC) must be removed since the cooperative laws state that someone who is convicted by the court should not be on the Committee of Management of the Credit Union. Benn is indeed facing charges for the sale of six acres of land belonging to the State but has not been convicted.

Nevertheless, the GPSU release noted that the Union’s 1st Vice President wrote to the Chief Cooperative Development Officer (CCDO) Suresh Jaigobin on April 6, 2021 seeking Benn’s immediate removal as Chairman of the IMC.“The Union is calling for immediate action to be taken failing which it would commence legal action on this matter…,” the GPSU said in its statement.
Prior to that, the GPSU claimed that the Credit Union was controlled by a democratically elected Management Committee but that committee was subjected to an abuse of executive authority displayed by former Minister of Labour, Keith Scott. According to the GPSU, in 2016, the Management Committee was forced to a pay over $2M to the Labour Ministry but refused to pay over approximately $50M requested by the Ministry. The former Labour Minister has since denied those claims, calling them baseless and unfounded.

The release claimed that on 25th May 2018, the then CCDO, Perlina Gifth reportedly terminated the “democratically elected Management Committee, took control of the Credit Union and replaced it with an IMC.”
The GPSU emphasised that, “It is now almost three years that the IMC is in office and there is no report on the reason for its creation…From observations, since its creation, a series of violations of the rules of the Credit Union and the laws of Guyana occurred; for example, the incurring of expenditures beyond the IMC’s limits and the payment of dividend without the approval of an Annual General Meeting.”
Further, the Union noted that the IMC has now scheduled an Annual General Meeting for April 11, 2021 and has issued instructions for membership participation in “gross violation of rules of the Credit Union and customs and practice.” The GPSU says that the members of the ousted Committee have since been appealing for the general membership of GPSCCU to be meaningfully involved, so as to ensure that control of the credit union is taken back.“In the first place, there was no reason to remove the democratically elected Committee of Management of the GPSCCU Ltd. It was an abuse of executive authority, propelled by political short sightedness and greed,” the statement noted.
The GPSU said on September 11, 2020 that it wrote the Minister of Labour Joseph Hamilton bringing to his attention the existing conflicts on matters of the GPSCCU Ltd.
“Even though there has been a change in government from APNU/AFC to the PPP/C, it continues to the detriment of the GPSCCU membership,” the GPSU added in the statement.
Contacted for comment last evening, Minister of Labour Joseph Hamilton explained that the Annual General Meeting (AGM) slated for April 11, coming Sunday, will make way for the membership of the GPSCCU to elect a new management committee. He said that as Minister, he has approved the move for the AGM to take place after the books of the Credit Union were audited and brought up to date.
Hamilton stated that, under his watch, the Interim Management Committee (IMC) has been able to straighten the affairs of the credit union, paving the way for its over 22,000 members to elect a board of directors.
“So as far as I am aware, there is no conflict, we will not be reinstalling an IMC, rather the new management committee will be elected for the Credit Union to run its operation… And at present, the Ministry has no power to remove Mr. Benn from his current position because he is charged but not convicted of any crime,” he said.

 

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