THE Kuru Kuru Cooperative College (KKCC), in collaboration with the Guyana Cooperative Credit Union League and the Ministry of Labour, Human Services and Social Security, yesterday, held a one-day workshop/seminar under the theme “Credit Union Development and Management”, in aid of enhancing the development of the Cooperative Movement of Guyana.

Held at the Regency Suites Hotel in Hadfield Street, Georgetown, this first workshop of its kind held by the KKCC saw participation from across the country, and was part of observances of Cooperative week, which commenced on June 29th, 2014 and will conclude on July 5th, 2014.

The vision of the Kuru Kuru Co-operative College is to make quality education and training accessible to all Guyanese, thereby improving the quality of life of the individual and the country as a whole.

Deputy Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Labour, Human Services and Social Security, Reverend Patrick Findlay, spoke of the period after slavery, when former slaves pooled their resources and purchased villages along the coast of Guyana. He mentioned that Victoria was the first village bought by the ex-slaves and an informal cooperative was formed there.

Reverend Findlay noted that Cooperatives were formally established in 1948. The theme for this Year of Cooperatives is ‘Sustainable development for all’.

The United Nations (UN) designated 2012 as International Year for Co-operatives. Guyana is the only Co-operative Republic in the world and, like many other countries, has co-operative societies of various types in respective countries – agricultural, land, housing, utility services, consumers, credit unions, fishermen’s co-operatives and others.

Pastor Findlay said, “The Ministry of Labour recognises the difficult role cooperatives have in the economic and social development of Guyana.” He pointed out that the local cooperatives comprise the fifth largest financial resource in Guyana, with total assets of approximately $15 billion Guyana Dollars.

He urged the members of the unions to strive to benefit from what they have put into the cooperative movements, and expressed concern over the actions of the cooperatives.

He insisted that the members of the cooperatives should ensure that they comply with the rules and principles governing cooperatives, and explained that the Labour Ministry has to answer for the Cooperatives’ ineffective utilisation of resources, thus he urged them to efficiently employ the resources available to them to move the sector forward.

Reverend Findlay also noted the challenges the Labour Ministry was experiencing from the cooperative unions, which have not been reporting regularly, are not in compliance with the law, and are not being audited as they should.

“Cooperative is the key to enhancing and uplifting the standard of living of the Guyanese people,” he said.

Chairman of the KKCC Board of Directors, John Seeram, noted that KKCC has a major role to play in cooperative education delivery and development.

He recalled that the Minister of Labour, Human Services and Social Security, Dr. Nanda Gopaul, had expressed his concern for the decline of cooperatives. “While some have become defunct, new ones have emerged and are very active,” he pointed out.

Mr Seeram stressed that practitioners in the cooperative sector need to be adequately trained, so they can be at utmost effectiveness and efficiency, in order to enable sustainable development.

He said, “Ongoing training and supervision are indeed critical to the strengthening of this sector. This College (KKCC) presently offers diploma and certificate programmes which can be viewed as the core training activity.”

Mr. Seeram pointed out that he would review the Financial Statements Presentation of the Credit Union, and that the KKCC will commence in-house training in the operation of cooperative entities countrywide.

He said this form of training has benefited the Linden Cooperative tremendously.
The Chairman indicated that training programmes would be conducted in the various regions, since they are more cost effective.

Mr Seeram expressed expectation that this seminar would redound to the development of the Cooperative Movement in Guyana.

The Guyana Credit Union League Limited is a secondary co-operative society which was established 1957. This secondary organisation is the confederation of Credit Unions in Guyana.

(By Sandy Agasen)