Dear Editor,
This year marks the 49th year of our country’s Independence and we seem to have forgotten the importance of co-operatives as an important sector in our trisectoral economy. We must immediately embark on a comprehensive education programme. I note with grave concern the total exclusion of co-operatives as a ministry in the naming of ministries.
This vital sector has made a significant impact on the lives of many of our citizens across Guyana. I am therefore making a special appeal for early inclusion of this vital sector in the social and economic lives of our citizens from primary to university.
The importance of a ministry can be emphasized, moreso since International Co-operative Day will be celebrated on the first Saturday in July, 2015.
Guyana is the only Co-operative Republic in the world, and like many other countries has co-operative societies of various types, eg agricultural, land, housing, utility services, consumers credit union, fishermen, to name a few. Co-operatives continue to play a dominant role in the life of their members and in the country as a whole.
Co-operative societies in Guyana have assets totalling in excess of eight billion dollars. It is indeed regrettable that today when this affects the survival of many members that the Department of Co-operatives in Guyana is not sufficiently staffed with trained and experienced cooperative officers. This is totally reprehensible and unacceptable. This situation if allowed to continue will be a total embarrassment to co-operatives and the country as a whole. Members need to be educated with respect to their duties and responsibilities in relation to their societies. Supervision is vital and plays an integral part in this.
Since co-operative education is the key to success, what is even more disturbing is the total neglect of the training institution for co-operators. This institution which is the Kuru Kuru Co-operative College on the Linden-Soesdyke Highway is now in a state of disrepair with the college virtually taken over by the Ministry of Education without legal documentation or any form of compensation, and completely neglected. The Kuru Kuru Co-operative College must be returned to its former glory. I trust that this new political dispensation will look into this matter early, and not allow this year to go by without ensuring that a policy for co-operative development in Guyana has been prepared, adopted and ratified by the 11th Parliament.
A stakeholder’s commission should also be appointed as early as possible. The Guyana National Cooperative Union which is the apex body for all co-operative societies in Guyana both at the national and international levels, must play a vital role, with its elected members being drawn from the ten administrative regions across Guyana.
The Chief Co-operatives Development Officer should not be allowed to continue appointing members to the Board. It is therefore necessary that the regional unions be resuscitated and be allowed to function.
I trust that the Minister responsible for co-operatives will ensure that they begin to take their rightful place in the Co-operative Republic by ensuring that the policy paper for co-operative development is prepared and discussed by co-operators and presented for acceptance. I hope too that the Co-operatives Department be given its full complement of staff so as to facilitate the success of the movement, with special attention being paid to school thrift societies, which are unique to Guyana and have played an important role in the lives of the young members. All schools must have legally registered school thrift co-operative societies, and the supervising teachers should be considered for the payment of ab honorarium so they receive some incentive. Training for members of these societies must be ongoing. It is essential that co-operative officers be employed who must have been exposed to some training in co-operatives and have some knowledge of accountancy.
Yours faithfully,
Charles Conway
Former Assistant
Chief Co-operatives Development Officer (Reg)
