Dear Editor,
Well, the final nail has been placed in the coffin of Globe Trust and Investment Company Limited. Along with the final nail, some pertinent revelations emerged on the Trust’s fall. (See Guyana Times ‘Eyewitness,’ December 5)
I have always had my views about the role the PNC(R) played in the demise of Globe Trust, especially in the area of unsecured loans, and it was not complimentary.
When the Clico issue arose, the Leader of the Opposition was rather vociferous about the path, the PPP/C government had taken, which according to him, had resulted in Clico‘s troubles; however, in relation to the GT&ICL, the said gentleman was rather silent.
I can recall asking the late Everall Franklin of GAP, why it is that the PNCR never raised the issue of Globe Trust and Investment Company Limited in Parliament, bearing in mind that most, if not all, of the depositors were supporters of the party. Mr Franklin smiled, and said, “Major, the PNCR, will never raise that issue in Parliament; were they to do so, they would have been terribly embarrassed.”
You may recall, that then President Jadgeo, during the Clico crisis, had offered to have an inquiry into Clico, but that one must also be done in respect of GT&ICL. His offer was never accepted. Globe Trust was like a minefield for the PNCR, and only a fool or someone suicidal steps into a minefield unprotected. The PNCR was neither of the two.
Part of my 34 years of service in the Guyana Defence Force was spent in the Intelligence Command. I was the Command Warrant Officer, and I therefore used some of the experience gained from that unit to find out the root cause of the Trust’s collapse. What emerged from my limited exercise, was a mosaic of greed, corruption, racism, backroom and club deals, and most alarming, the quest for political power using other people’s money.
I learnt too, that we tend to look at issues from the point of race, and view things through a glass darkly. As a result of my letters to Stabroek News on the Trust issue, I received telephone calls from people whom I considered to be my friends, accusing me of being anti-black. 1 was once told that if an Indo-Guyanese, had suffered financial loss as a result of mismanagement by an ‘Indian‘ bank, he would have kept quiet and accepted his loss, and that I, as a black man, should have done the same.
With every letter that I wrote concerning the Globe Trust issue, I had cause to remember the vendor in Bourda Market, a lady who on receiving her cheque which represented five per cent of her savings, broke down and cried; the old gentleman who lived in London and who sent his pension faithfully each month to be deposited in GT&ICL; the many persons who became ill when they learnt of Globe Trust’s collapse – some subsequently died before receiving the handout.
Well, then, if because I highlighted the aforementioned, I am to be perceived as being anti-black, so be it.
Yours faithfully,
C S Vaughn