…IMC says Yarde vexed, misses power

THE Interim Management Committee (IMC) of the Guyana Public Service Cooperative Credit Union (GPSCCU) is set to pay out some $100M in interim dividends to its members, Chairman of the IMC, Trevor Benn has confirmed.

The payment of the dividends comes following the credit union books being audited– something which had not been done for years under the Patrick Yarde-led management.
Benn told the Guyana Chronicle that the last time members of the credit union were paid dividends was back in 2010. Benn said that since then members have been clamouring for the payments, but the old management committee had not been approving, nor were they allowed to, because of their incomplete audits.

Benn believes that this is why Yarde, who is President of the Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU), and other executives of the Union have developed a “sour grapes” attitude about the matter.

On Wednesday the GPSU announced its arrangement of a meeting with its members for today to address their complaints on the operations of the credit union, which they said is being credited to the “onerous measures” imposed on them by the IMC.

The GPSU stated that members are required to wait 2-3 days for withdrawals; some are ultimately denied loans while some others have opted to resign from the credit union.
In response Benn posited: “I believe what is happening is that the Interim Committee has agreed to pay out some interim dividends to the members which was outstanding since 2010 and they [the GPSU] are not happy with us paying it out, so they’re creating problems.”

He added: “There were three years of audit which they refused to sign on to and we signed on to the audit because we reviewed it and we saw no problem with signing on to it and as a result we’re now able to pay the interim dividends to the members and they are opposed to that, so they’re creating problems as a result,” Benn said.

The dividends being paid are 3 per cent of the monies members have in the credit union for a period of three years (2011-2013) and Benn stated that the over $100M in dividends will be paid out before Christmas

“These folks don’t want us to pay this interim dividend to these people, but we believe that’s the reason why the institution is in place in the first place, to provide support to its members and the members come first. So whatever money we make, any profit we make needs to go back to the members,” he said.
The IMC Chairman then added: “That is a part of the problem that we have with the GPSU. They run it like if it’s GPSU they’re running, transferring the funds to their agency and we want to stop that, and this is what is causing consternation among their members, because they are not enjoying the transfer of monies like they used to keep their machinery well oiled.”

Due diligence
When it comes to the statements made by the GPSU on behalf of their members regarding the time period for acquiring funds, Benn said like any other money-lending institution, the GPSCCU must do its due diligence.

This, he explained, includes requesting certain documentation which shows that the borrower can repay the sum. “Similarly, at the credit union, there is a committee set up to review all applicants who come to borrow money. That committee meets twice per week and so if you miss the day or you come after the meeting, you may not catch the meeting right away. It takes some time for the processing to make sure that the committee sees your application. If you’re just withdrawing money it’s not a problem, most of the times you get it back the same day,” he said.

Members of the credit union are allowed to borrow up to three times their savings.
On the claim that members are being denied loans, Benn remarked: “There’s nobody being denied loans if you meet the qualification…some people can’t find guarantors, so we can’t give you the money unless there’s a guarantor. Suppose you can’t pay at the end of the time, what happens with the Union’s money? That’s the only way a member could be turned down.”

And, on the statement made by the GPSU that some members have opted to resign from the credit union, Benn assessed this number to be “very small” and comprising mostly persons who are moving overseas or out of the region. Commenting further, the IMC Chairman stated that he wants the “belittling” of the GPSCCU’s staff to cease as hundreds of persons visit the union for loans each day and are assisted.

This, he noted, is not done electronically but manually by individuals who are committed to the cause. “The staff, they’re working around the clock, over time to make sure that every person who applies gets money. If you pass there 7 o’clock in the night we have staff working to meet the needs…as part of the credit union, we have more than 10,000 members and on a daily basis hundreds of them come and apply for a loan and they’re processed. I don’t know of any bank that processes as many loans as we do when the day comes…so I think it’s a little bit of ‘sour grapes’ that are at work there,” he said.