– Labour Minister during general meeting at Port Mourant United Coop
The Labour Ministry, while in the process of reforming cooperatives, has taken over the management of several societies, due to mismanagement and corruption, to ensure that the interest of members are safe-guarded.
Minister of Labour Manzoor Nadir, who holds the portfolio for credit unions and cooperatives, Sunday addressed members of the Port Mourant United Coop Society Ltd, Region Six, at a special general meeting.

The Ministry has seized control of more than 20 cooperative societies and yesterday’s meeting was used to highlight issues affecting the performance of the Port Mourant United Coop Society Ltd., as well as management changes.
Minister Nadir said that Government will continue to deliver its mandate by rebuilding the cooperative movement to ensure it plays its role in socio-economic and national development, and noted that the meeting was also in keeping with the People’s Progressive Party/Civic’s 2006 manifesto of revitalising cooperatives so that they can work to the benefit of members and in accordance with the laws of Guyana.

He added that the exercises, which were conducted by the Ministry over the past four years, were aimed at ensuring that good governance and transparent management are portrayed, and explained that the meeting stemmed from investigation of mismanagement of cooperatives, specifically at Port Mourant, Berbice, where more than $500M passed through the hands of the sugarcane farmers’ co-operative. However, profits were not shared in the agreed manner with farmers.
“We are not picking on Port Mourant United just for the sake of picking on a society; we are ensuring that good governance and accountability remain. We don’t take control of a coop by just waking up one morning and saying take over this coop, the Chief Cooperative Development Officer; the Ministers and Coop officers would receive complaints, and we have an obligation to investigate,” the Minister said.
Investigations into the accounting logs of co-operatives found delayed record keeping, irregular meetings, and, to some extent, non-existent members’ list.
Failure to do those tasks, he said, would allow the Chief Co-operative Officer of the Ministry to step in and take necessary action. An auditor was also appointed to ensure that the records are kept and that all monies are accounted for as mentioned in their record keeping.
The Minister, while urging members of the cooperative to get more persons involved so that they can receive additional income and service, added that it is Government’s objective to ensure that no one is denied their legitimate claim to membership.

“We have employed an auditor and I am giving him until the end of next month to complete the audit, and I am promising everyone here that before we have our next meeting, you are going to get a full report in writing in your hand of the spending.”
Minister Nadir added that cattle have been a major problem for the society, as it has suffered losses due to cows grazing in the fields and damaging the sugarcane.
He indicated that fencing of vulnerable sections of the cane fields and the purchase of fertilizers and equipment will be done shortly.
Chief Co-operative Development Officer in the Ministry, Kareem Abdul-Jabar, said that during 2007, members started making complaints of the manner in which the coop was being managed and that they were not receiving monies.
After investigations in December last, a new management team was established which comprised persons who were not members of the society. This was meant to resolve all disputes and to work in the interest of the society.
He added that coop societies belong to the members who should be handling their affairs in keeping with chapter 88:01 of the laws of Guyana.
However, Abdul-Jabar cautioned that if a society develops problems and is not managed in accordance with the act, then there are regulations that give the Chief Coop Officer the power to intervene, to fix the problem and return it to the members. If after a reasonable time-frame has elapsed and the problem cannot be resolved, then the next option is liquidation.
“Our aim is not to destroy societies, but  to manage and control coops to ensure that they function properly, according to the law, and in keeping with the objectives that they were registered to achieve,” he added.
The Port Mourant United Coop Society currently has 91 members. At yesterday’s exercise, each member received a cheque for $85,000.