The cooperative society revitalisation exercise is in full swing in keeping with government’s manifesto promise to breathe new life into the sector while ensuring that they comply with the Laws of Guyana.

Minister of Labour Manzoor Nadir makes a point during a meeting with the Queenstown Cooperative Society to reenergize cooperatives on the Essequibo Coast.

On Monday, a team from the Ministry of Labour visited Region Two where they met with members of the four most troubled societies at the Regional Democratic Council (RDC).

The delegation comprised Minister of Labour Manzoor Nadir, Permanent Secretary Trevor Thomas and Chief Cooperative Development Officer Kareem Abdul Jabaar.

The team, along with Regional Chairman Alli Baksh, met with Queenstown Farmers United Coop, Devonshire Castle/Walter Hall, Sparta and Reliance/Lima Cattle Rearers’ Association.

Minister Nadir informed the gathering that the ministry has been laying the ground work for rejuvenating cooperative societies and has received a multiplicity of complaints about coops in the region.

He explained that Cabinet has made a decision with regard to the way forward for the 900 cooperatives that currently exist in Guyana.

The minister added that 350 of these are school thrift societies and the ministry intends to ensure not only that they are re-energized, but that they are accountable and under proper management.

The ministry on January 27 met with a group of investigators and inquirers who will be tasked with scrutinising the coops to decipher their financial standing, as well as document other issues of concern.

Minister Nadir has since appointed Desmond Davidson as the official inquirer of the four societies. He is to listen to the concerns of each member and report on his findings at the end of three months.

After the submission of Davidson’s report, Minister Nadir said a decision will be taken on whether to disband, dissolve or revive the various cooperative societies.

Regulation 56: 2 of the laws that govern societies provides for the Chief Coop Officer to appoint an interim manager should the committee of management fail to honour its obligations.

Management is then handed back to its members should the crisis abate, but in the event that the issue cannot be resolved, then the society shall be subject to cancellation.

The general consensus was that the management committees of the four coops have reputations of mismanagement, poor accountability, improper record keeping and several other discrepancies.

An audit conducted by Manohar Deochand revealed that, for most of the societies, no prior audits were done, no records presented, no annual general meetings held, and lands were rented, sold and otherwise disbursed to non-members.

In the case of Queenstown, Deochand said that there were no audits for the period 1969-2004, and no records were presented from 1969 to 2000. He stated that the members owed land rent in excess of $200,000 and held no general meetings since 2000.

The committee of management was removed in 2005 and evidence revealed that a former secretary sold lands and concealed the records.

Wendell Walcott, a rice farmer and President of the Queenstown Development Association, took issue with the coop which, he said, was started by fraudulent means.

He explained that a group of councillors from the Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC) abandoned the pasture and decided to cultivate rice under the ‘Rice Producers Coop’.

Walcott explained that after a few years, the farmers began individual cultivation and another coop was formed under the name, ‘Queenstown Farmers United Coop Society’.

After 30 years, the chairman died and documents in his keeping were handed over to the Rice Producers Coop whose members found a lease showing they had hold over a large portion of land which was in control of the Farmers United Coop.

According to Walcott, the Rice Producers Coop secretly acquired title to the land without the knowledge of its membership.

From other contributions, the team learnt that several persons in occupation of coop lands had not been accepted as members but had inherited or purchased from deceased members.

Minister Nadir explained that no person can become a member of the coop unless he is presented at an annual general meeting.

However, he assured the gathering that the ministry had no intention of dispossessing anyone found in occupancy of lands which they had inherited or bought.

“In disbanding defunct coops, we have to ensure that no one in occupancy is dispossessed of lands they have been working or living on for decades,” Minister Nadir stressed.

During the meeting with Devonshire Castle, Minister Nadir learnt that management had seized coop lands to settle indebtedness to a contractor who had been tasked with excavating several waterways. However, the members claimed they were never informed of the debt.

The society was also found to be indebted to the municipality as reported by the town clerk who stated that management had also failed to pay rates and taxes on behalf of its members.

At the Sparta meeting, members revealed that the society has been inactive for several years and were basically in preparation for individual ownership of land titles.

As a consequence, the auditor revealed that they were indebted to the town council in excess of $9M.

The issue with the Reliance/Lima society was the age-old cattle versus crop land dispute.

The chairman explained that the society was forced to diversify from the traditional cattle rearing to other forms of economic activities.

He said the decision was influenced due to several constraints including the poisoning of cattle and the lack of water for herds.

However, the members who stuck to cattle rearing complained that there were no pastures in which to graze their herds since these were coveted by rice farmers.

The Labour Minister chided the management committees for their laissez-faire administration while expressing displeasure at the lack of coop monitoring in the region.

He noted that as of January 2010, all coop positions in the region have been abandoned and the ministry has moved to recentralise monitoring of coops at its Georgetown office.

The Minister also informed the societies that they must form themselves into a viable body which can compete with profit-making business establishments in a modern world.

Regional Chairman Alli Baksh, in brief remarks, said that cooperative societies serve a very meaningful purpose and even members of most advanced countries are banding together.

He explained that coops are not only to pass on wealth and knowledge but also to unite a community and its people while providing livelihood.

Echoing this sentiment, Thomas stated that because of its critical role in national development, coops must be vibrant, effective and transparent.

“We expect them to be transparent, accountable and work in the interest of all its members,” the Permanent Secretary said.(GINA)