Grave discrepancies found at co-op societies
Labour Minister, Joseph Hamilton
Labour Minister, Joseph Hamilton

— Minister Hamilton refutes Lewis’ claim that he is targetting Afro-Guyanese
— ministry to embark on revitalisation and a resuscitation process for societies

LABOUR MINISTER, Joseph Hamilton has dismissed claims by Veteran Trade Unionist, Lincoln Lewis, that he is disproportionately targetting Afro-Guyanese by going after defunct co-operative societies in an attempt to close them.

Lewis made the claims in a letter published in the Letters Column of the Stabroek News on Sunday, February 28, 2021 which was titled “African Guyanese have been disproportionately targetted for termination in the public sector”.

Veteran Trade Unionist, Lincoln Lewis

In the letter, he noted, “It is fact the Minister of Labour, Joseph Hamilton, (another African) is now threatening to go after defunct co-operative societies to close them rather than help to launch an investigation into the reason(s) for their non-functioning.”

He added: “Any caring Government, recognising this sector has been the major pillar of African empowerment, would seek to render assistance to resuscitate not close them. This is an effort, once again, to go after black capital.”

In a press release from the Ministry of Labour, Hamilton highlighted that Lewis’s statement is not based on truth, and is misleading since the facts would show that co-operative societies are diverse in their ethnic composition.

Hamilton further noted that a Co-operative or Friendly Society can only be dissolved by virtue of Section 38 of the Cooperative Societies Act, Chapter 88:01 and Section 55 of the Friendly Societies Act, Chapter 36:04, respectively.

Upon his assumption of office in August 2020, Hamilton was tasked with restructuring the Department of Labour into a Ministry. In doing so, he travelled across Guyana to understand what the newly-established ministry would have responsibility over and encountered “grave atrocities” within some co-operative societies.

“I saw that monies were dispatched for the purchase of pigs but upon arrival at the location where the pigs were to be housed my team and I saw no pigs but merely empty pens. Apparently, all the ‘piggies’ went to the market and none were afforded the opportunity to stay at home. The profits at the market are unaccounted for,” Hamilton said.

“I discovered co-op societies with poultry farmers out of the country, manure facilities with no manure, block making machines that are ancient and dress making co-op societies with machines that cannot be used for sewing. All taxpayers’ money wasted, squandered, unaccounted for by these co-op societies,” he added.

Hamilton noted that, as the Minister of Labour with responsibility for co-operative societies, it is his duty to ensure that if monies are allocated to a co-operative society to be used in a specified way, the monies are used for that purpose and an accurate account of its use is provided by that society.

AUDIT TO BE CONDUCTED

Upon the discovery of the irregularities within the co-operative societies, the Ministry of Labour has decided to conduct an integrity audit of all co-op societies; the audit will be conducted by independent auditors as provided for by Section 35 of Co-operative Societies Act Cap 88:01.

“It is being done to ascertain the present status of societies which will determine their future, since the Ministry of Labour and the Department of Cooperative and Friendly Societies will be embarking on a revitalisation and a resuscitation process for societies,” Hamilton stated.

The outcome of this integrity audit can lead to training for members of the Societies by the Board of Industrial Training (BIT), which has been mandated to implement specific Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) programmes for co-operative societies.

“The societies that are to benefit from this activity will be strengthened through training to facilitate Economic Sustainability and Community Livelihood Engagement,” the minister noted.

The ministry has already made interventions into several co-operative societies where skill assessments were conducted and training programmes are to be implemented.

“On completion of the audits of societies and the conduct of training programmes where necessary, this ministry will, if the need arises, exercise the powers given to us under the legislation, i.e., Dissolution of the Co-op [Section 38 of the Co-operative Societies Act Cap 88:01] or Cancellation of Registration [Section 39 of the Co-operative Societies Act Cap 88:01],” Hamilton noted.

Hamilton expounded that The Ministry of Labour and the Department of Cooperative and Friendly Societies are in no way politically and/ or racially bias, as the relevant legislation could have been invoked to dissolve the selected societies, which has not happened.

He further explained that the integrity audit will not be done in isolation; but with an Expression of Interest (EoI) which will be published in the newspapers and will be conducted in all the societies in all 10 administrative regions.

“Finally, it should be noted that since August 02, 2020, the Department of Cooperative and Friendly Societies has registered 12 Cooperative and four Friendly Societies in which 90 per cent of those societies comprised members predominantly of African descent,” Hamilton said.

“So, Mr. Lewis, it is advisable that you do your research and get the facts before publishing mischief that can create political and racial tensions among Guyanese,” he added.

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