Still no action by the Labour Ministry on the Paradise Multi-Purpose Cooperative Society

Mar 11, 2013 Letters

Dear Editor,
I felt a brief sense of relief when I read of Minister Gopaul’s stated determination to root out corruption in cooperatives.  The relief was brief because reality reminded me that the Paradise Multi-Purpose Cooperative Society’s situation has remained unresolved after years of being under the control of the Chief Cooperatives Development Officer (CCDO), and in spite of the sterling efforts by Patrick E. Mentore to have the subject minister reign in his subordinate and return the Society to its members.
The minister’s strong statement about the enrichment of a few is particularly relevant to Paradise with respect to illegal sale and disposal of what in effect state lands under the umbrella of a cooperative body.  I would like the CCDO to tell the nation how many Paradise members have benefitted from exposure to training in cooperatives at the Kuru Kuru Cooperative College or at any other institution for the development of Paradise.
What is of interest is that despite the minister being informed that Paradise has not received an audited report, held an annual general meeting, or elected office bearers while under the personal management of Mr. Abdul-Jabbar since 2003; and despite the minister being sent a petition by fifty-two members expressing a loss of confidence in Abdul-Jabbar no positive action has been taken by the Labour Ministry.  Is this not an indication that (as Carmen Grandison opined) the minister may not be in full control of his ministry?
I think that it is an insult to people’s intelligence to expect the public at large to passively accept what seems to be an obvious attempt at preserving the status quo after all the effort by progressive members in the community.
This leaves me to conclude that if the Guyana Public Service was not an influential body the Lamaha Garden issue would not have been addressed.  I am prepared to back any form of legal action that the members are willing to take to ensure that the audit reports from 2003 are presented as well as all details of financial transactions from that period onwards.
Gervais Sansulotte