Another round of consultations held with co-op societies
GINA, GUYANA, Thursday, October 20, 2016
Another round of consultations to revitalize cooperatives was held this week, this time in Region Five. Minister within the Ministry of Social Protection, Keith Scott, yesterday met with representatives from various co-operative societies in Region Five.
Minister within the Ministry of Social Protection, Keith Scott
Scott explained that he is on a mission to make the cooperative system the most powerful in the country since co-operative societies lead most of the development in the developed countries. “In the sixty’s we were able to own our own homes we were all able to create our own jobs, jobs that even today we are in a position to say it has produced for our children and for their benefits, we have to be proud of that,” Scott reminded the participants.
The minister noted that there were many co-operative societies that inspired others towards unity but politics affected others negatively. “The co-op movement has unfortunately, fallen victim to the manipulations and the crookedness of many of the members themselves. What we found was that there were a few educated people within the movement and those persons are guilty manipulating the others,” he said.
Members of Region Five Co-operatives at the meeting
Regional Executive Officer of Region Five, Ovid Morrison, said new energies are needed for the co-operative movement to move forward in Region Five. Morrison explained that appreciation for the cooperative movement has faded drastically.
“In this region we have deterioration in terms of the feelings for the cooperative movement and in terms of the respect we give to the cooperative movement…but we must move steadfast into recuperating it for the benefit of the country,” Morrison said.
Morrison reminded members that the only way they can receive the benefits is by developing the discipline to understand the roles they need to play in the movement.
Cooperative members from Number 40, Hopetown, Seafield, Shieldstown and Rosignol raised their concerns with the minister and his team.
Similar consultations will be held in other regions across Guyana. Minister Scott has said that his ministry plans to visit all the co-operative societies to assist them in restructuring their systems and those that are able to manage themselves properly will be assisted further
By Ranetta La Fleur