Co-operatives to be resuscitated

GINA, GUYANA, Monday October 3, 2016

The Ministry of Social Protection, Department of Labour, is working to resuscitate democratic co-operative across Guyana. Minister within the Ministry of Social Protection with responsibility for Labour, Keith Scott, said there are plans to have youth involved in the process.

Today, Scott met with members from the co-operative societies in Region Three at the Toevlught and Patentia Neighbourhood Democratic Councils (NDCs). The meeting was held at Good Intent Village.

Scott said the 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. He said for those that are corrupted, interim management councils will be setup to ensure systems fall in line.

According to Scott, the ministry plans to bring on-stream thrift societies and the children credit union.

The minister plans to have another meeting with members of the co-operative societies of Region Three since one meeting is not enough to cover the issues of the region.

Earlier in the year, Scott had said his Ministry was working on crafting a policy to propel the Cooperative Society movement.

There are currently over 1000 functioning co-operatives in Guyana, all of which are currently being audited. “What we need to have in place is total accountability, auditing accounts that must be audited and a cooperation existing between the league and each co-operative because we need to understand that we have obligations to the league, we need to understand that we have obligation to the members,” Minister Scott said.

By: Renetta LaFluer