Guyana Public Service Cooperative Credit Union gets new Interim Management amid intervention

Georgetown, Guyana: The Department of Co-operatives Societies (COOP), Ministry of Labour intervened in the management of the Guyana Public Service Cooperative Credit Union (GPSCCU), on Friday August 11, 2023, where three new Interim positions were elected to serve on the Management Committee to guarantee that members’ interest are protected.

The act is in compliance with Co-operative Societies Act, Chapter 88:01 and the court order in Action No.2022-HC-DEM-CIV-FDA-797 which occurred at a meeting held at the Ministry of Labour’s boardroom in the presence of Suresh Jaigobin, Assistant Chief Cooperative Development Officer, Ministry of Labour’s legal officers, and GPSCCU League representatives of and GPSCCU’s Management Committee members.

Jaigobin, Assistant Chief Cooperative Development Officer, stated that the department’s intervention in GPSCCU’s management was both justified and necessary to restore the credit union to a functional state.

“Many members of the union inclusive of the other members of the Management Committee and credit union staff have expressed concerns to us (Department of Co-operatives Societies) about the actions and decisions taken by two members of the management committee without consulting with other members of the committee as a result of a court order date July 25, 2023,” he mentioned.

“As the supervisory authority, the department decided to take control of the issues in accordance with the Co-operative Societies Act and the court ruling,” he explained.

Jaigobin noted that the decision was taken simply in the best interests of the members and was not intended to be thwart against the court order.

As per the official update, the High Court, in July 2023, issued an order prohibiting Gillian Pollard and Ruth Howard and Karen Vanslyutman-Corbin from conducting business, and it further ordered that offices held by Polland, Howard and Vanslyutman-Corbin be executed by Trevor Benn, Patrick Mentore and Rajdai Jaggernauth until the hearing of this application on September 13, 2023.

The court order did not specific which office Benn, Mentore and Jaggernauth would hold. As a result, two principle positions, Chairman and Secretary, were to be filled, with the remaining position being that of a committee member. The position of the Chairman of the Committee was filled in accordance with Regulation 22 of the Co-operative Societies Act.

The position of the Secretary of the Committee was appointed in compliance with Regulation 47 of the Co-operative Societies Act. Jaggernauth was the Treasurer of the Committee and was now elected to act as the Interim Chairman, hence the position of the Treasurer became vacate and was filled in accordance with Regulation 53 of the Co-operative Societies Act.

Reportedly, in accordance to the court order, Jaggernauth has been appointed in the position of Corbin (Chairman), Mentore as Polland (Secretary), and Benn as Howard (Committee member).

Members of the Committee agreed with the decision of the Interim positions appointed at the end of the meeting. All decisions made during the meeting are in accordance with Chapter 88:01 of the Co-operative Societies Act and the court order dated July 5, 2023.