West Dem Co-op up in arms against govt. over takeover

Apr 18, 2022 News

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– chairman says IMC unlawful

Kaieteur News – Chairman and committee members of the West Demerara Market Co-operative Society Limited are set to meet authorities over what they believe is an illegal takeover of their functions by an imposed Interim Management Committee (IMC).

Co-op chairman, Hemraj Ragnauth, told the Kaieteur News yesterday that he was informed by way of letter, Saturday last, the decision of Chief Co-operative Development Officer (CCDO) to have an IMC conduct the affairs of the society. The move comes as a total surprise as no efforts were made to communicate or ascertain the matters involving the body, Ragnauth explained.
Ragnauth told the newspaper that based on the letter received from the Chief Co-op Officer (CCO) claims were made about mismanagement of funds and failure to carry out certain functions. He told the newspaper that the letter claimed that a meeting was held with co-opt members, but as the chairman of the society, he nor his committee is aware of any such engagement; while none of the issues alleged were brought to their attention.
Ragnauth explained that for the last three years, there has not been no audit of the co-op’s books which is a process facilitated by the Labour Ministry’s Co-operative Division. Almost a year now, Ragnauth said he has written to the authorities to have the audit conducted, but to date there has been no response. He added that following the ascension of the current administration he wrote letters to the government indicating difficulties the society was having which included financial struggles.
Ragnauth said that instead of having the matters addressed, the co-operative has now been blindsided with an IMC consisting of persons connected to the Stewartville/Cornelia Ida NDC. Ragnauth told the newspaper that at this point, the co-operative is seeking clarity since they are dumbfounded as to how a decision was reached to impose an IMC when no communication or warning was issued. “We just want to get it clear how we have mismanaged funds,” Ragnauth said. He said that the body is disappointed at the violation of the society’s rights given their responsibility to their more than 200 members. Ragnauth continued that every last Saturday of the month is the society’s statutory meeting and one such meeting was recently held, but no mention was made of any issues concerning the management of the co-opt.
Ragnauth submitted that that he and his committee have no issues with the government intervening but that process must follow procedures. “My point is if the CCO finds that we are mismanaging in office then we would think that an investigation would be launched, not a takeover in this manner. It is not that we are fighting anything but you are breaking the rules,” Ragnauth opined.
West Demerara Co-op has responsibility for the Leonora Market, hometown of President Dr. Irfaan Ali, where he recently visited and promised an upgrade of facilities, such as a larger market tarmac. Ragnauth told the newspaper that matters relating to the market were among the issues they wanted to highlight to the government where persons were vending on the roadway. He told the newspaper that, “suddenly, after the President visited the market, we now have an IMC.
President Ali had visited the Leonora Market three days before Minister of Labour, Joseph Hamilton informed that an IMC, comprising five members, would be responsible for the co-op and its functions.
He said that the IMC would be functioning for the next six to 12 months as reports of revenue mismanagement surfaced. The government’s information department had said that the Labour Ministry would be taking action after members of the society petitioned for government’s intervention to properly manage the co-op’s operations. They said the petition described the mismanagement of funds, non-hosting of the Annual General Meeting (AGM), no dividends given to members, as well as the lack of audited financial statements.
The IMC is installed under the Cooperative Society Act, Chapter 88:01, which permits the CCDO to take over any cooperative, friendly society or credit union, which in the CCDO’s opinion, is being mismanaged or non-transparent, it was stated. Just over a week ago, government also installed an IMC at the Linden Utility Services Co-op Society Limited (LUSCSL). Hamilton, in defending the decision of the Chief Co-operative Development Officer (ag) had said that LUSCSL had been poorly managed, and if not fixed could result in its collapse. Staff and directors of the Co-opt staged sit-outs resisting the IMC.
Hamilton had said that that co-opt had failed to have AGMs for six years and no audits were conducted since 2016, with no update to the general members register.

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