By Francis Quamina Farrier

THE Bolivian Republic of Venezuela has once again been flexing its military muscle in the face of its smaller peace-loving neighbour, the Cooperative Republic of Guyana. But from all indications, the many international friends of the only English-speaking country in South America, are solidly backing-up Guyana – BANKS Country – and encouraging it to yield “not a blade of grass”, or “one carass”; lyrics from the popular Dave Martins patriotic song which also states, “Not a drop of water from the Pomeroon” River where Dave Martins was born. One of the reasons is that Essequibo, like the rest of “The land of many waters”, including the bottled water, Tropical Mist, remains, “BANKS country”.

I was at the recent BANKS DIH Annual Essequibo Shareholders Meeting at Airy Hall, on the Essequibo Coast, in Region Two, last Sunday, and from my own observations, the scores of BANKS DIH Shareholders who attended were displaying the kind of unity which makes for strength, especially in the face of a shameless foreign aggressor.

In declaring that “Guyana is BANKS Country”, some years ago, the management and directors, obviously included all of Essequibo, and so, for nearly 20 years, the company has been holding Annual Shareholders Branch Meetings, after the major one at the Thirst Park Headquarters in Georgetown. These include Airy Hall on the Essequibo Coast, Region Two; Bartica on the Essequibo River, Region Seven; Linden on the Upper Demerara River, Region 10 and New Amsterdam in Region Six.

In this feature article, I am reporting on the two BANKS DIH Branch Shareholders Meetings in the County of Essequibo; the one at Airy Hall was held last Sunday to a packed-to-overflowing venue of the company’s Essequibo Coast location. In his address to the shareholders in attendance, Company Chairman Clifford B. Reis, CCH, informed those present, of the increase in the value of their shares and reminded them of his advice in the past, not to sell their shares. “The Shareholders’ Net Asset Value per share is now $40.15 per share, when compared with the 2017 Value of $34.33 per share,” he revealed. The Chairman also alluded to the Quality Awards which were bestowed on BANKS DIH products such as the 12-Year-Old and 15-Year-Old XM Rums which copped the Grand Gold Medal prizes.

Focusing on the BANKS DIH management and staff as “The Winning Team”, Clifford Reis also told the company’s Essequibo Shareholders of the company’s “commitment to innovative technology, especially in the solar energy sector.” Three days later, on Wednesday last, many of the BANKS DIH Shareholders at Bartica turned up for their Annual Meeting. Bartica and all of Region Seven, is located within the large section of Essequibo claimed by Venezuela, and in asking a young shareholder who resides at the new and large Bartica Four Mile Housing Scheme what was her opinion about the situation, her response was, “No way, Venezuela.”

The Bartica shareholders were also informed of the encouraging improvements in the performances of both the BANKS DIH and its subsidiary Citizen’s Bank at Bartica. The Chairman once again made a request for a suitable plot of land on which to build a larger Citizen’s Bank, since the one now in use has become too small to give the quality service to customers as desired by the Management. BANKS DIH Ltd. in its declared announcement that Guyana is “BANKS Country”, the company has also in a way, directed a strong message to Venezuela that Guyana has “A Winning Team.”