Dear Editor,
I have been writing about the situation in the Paradise Multi-Purpose Cooperative Society (PMCS) since 2010 and there have been supporting letters by other concerned and vocal Guyanese, but with the exception of a March 2012 visit by Minister of Labour and Cooperatives, Dr Nanda Gopaul who promised to commission an audit of the Society’s affairs, and indeed ordered one, there has been not one peep from any parliamentarian, interest group, or media representative on the concerns expressed on these matters. As a matter of fact, the Chief Cooperatives Development Officer, Mr Kareem Abdul-Jabbar who has been intimately involved in (mis)managing the Society’s affairs since December 15, 2003 is expected to determine when and how the audit is done and who conducts it. This is a clear conflict of interest since Mr Abdul-Jabbar has in some six of the eight years that he has been in control been reporting to himself in his capacity of CCDO. Mr Abdul-Jabbar has not seen it fit to introduce any development initiative for the benefit of the residents of the housing scheme. I have remarked ad nauseam that there is need for a community recreational centre but Mr Abdul-Jabbar’s response was that the other residents may not desire such a community space. Now where on earth will our children go to interact with each other? Where do we adults and our youths go to discuss community development interventions? There are just about four hundred occupied house lots in a scheme of some nine hundred house lots. The remainder consist of empty lots and of unfinished structures with trees growing inside, that provide spaces for hostile surveillance and havens for cattle rustlers to use as slaughter houses.
The simple truth is that there has been wholesale selling and transfer of the Society’s house lots with no intention of looking at other aspects of what a multipurpose cooperative is all about. What reason could the CCDO offer for his refusal to advertise in the media for persons who were allotted house lots over ten years ago to come forward and express continued interest in constructing their homes? Why are residents still being held to ransom by being told that they must pay off for their title before they can access potable water for which they have to go to the office of the CCDO to pay? This does not happen in any other part of this country, so why in Paradise? If that is not a clear indication of an abuse of public office I am not sure what is. A petition expressing loss of confidence in Mr Abdul-Jabbar and a request that he be made to recuse himself or be removed from intimate involvement in the affairs of the PMCS was sent to the Minister of Labour during July 2012 but to date it is business as usual. Why are we continuing to ignore misfeasance by lower level public officials? Invariably it is this perception which enables and perpetuates the type of injustice which now pervades our community. The petition also requested that an inquiry be held to examine twenty-eight points with a view to resolving several burning issues, not the least of which is the state of the Society’s finances and other assets disposable or otherwise.
The President speaks of communities being hubs of economic development, but that memo seems not to have reached the desk of the CCDO. The reluctance on the part of Mr Abdul-Jabbar and his cohorts to entertain divergent views and their stranglehold on the Paradise Multi-Purpose Cooperative Society speak volumes about his nearly ten year stewardship without an audit, annual general meeting or elections of suitably qualified office bearers with at least a modicum of knowledge of cooperative principles and practices. But I am inclined to the view that maybe our situation at first glance may not appear volatile enough for general interest. I pray that all those stakeholders who are prone to mouthing platitudes of community cohesiveness, development and the right to self-determination will stand up to be counted. Martin Luther King got it right when he said “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about the things that matter.” Maybe if a COI had been ordered into the affairs of Paradise Multi-Purpose Cooperative Society the GPSU debacle might not have occurred.
Yours faithfully,
Patrick E Mentore
