Members of the Guyana Public Service Cooperative Credit Union were on Sunday notified that the entity has been able to recover 50 per cent of the amount it had invested in the ill-fated Clico.
The statement, contained in the Report of the credit union’s Committee of Management, adds that the credit union is “determined, through consistent lobbying, to have the entire sum invested, with interest, returned to the credit union”.
At its Sunday November 10 Annual General Meeting the GPSU Credit Union also announced an intended dividend payout of $125,896.081 for the years 2009 to 2010. The announcement of the forthcoming dividend payout was made against the background of disclosures in the Chairman’s report regarding the computerization of members’ accounts in order to speed up services. But the GPSU Credit Union, the single largest credit union in the country, continues to face challenges to its further growth including a high level of delinquency in the repayment of loans. Noting that delinquency continued to be a “very serious and challenging problem,” the report stated that total repayments outstanding at the end of 2012 was $118,812,774.00.Delinquents number 2,471.
During the discussion on delinquency, suggestions from the floor included a recommendation that lending conditions in some cases include the requirement of collateral.
Another contributor suggested that some persons who are indebted to the credit union might be flight risks and the organisation should therefore move to secure the help of the airport authorities in engaging delinquent members seeking to leave the country.
It was not immediately clear how the organisation intended to deal with the issue of delinquency, but members to whom Stabroek Business spoke opined that the recommendations made from the floor were impractical.
The credit union said it had found that job losses, migration, and dishonesty were among the main reasons for delinquency and in the past measures that included wider screening of loan applicants, verifying guarantors and publishing the names of delinquents in the daily newspapers and on the internet had been applied in an effort to reduce delinquency levels.
While the report expressed a measure of unease over the level of delinquency it noted that the loan ceiling had, nonetheless, been raised to $500,000.
Meanwhile, the GPSU Credit Union says in its report that it continues to examine possible areas of investment “with caution, in keeping with the lessons learnt from the Clico debacle.” It seeks, it says, “to ensure that all funds invested are properly secured and provide reasonable returns.” Private sector investments in local entities include Banks DIH Ltd, Demerara Distillers Ltd, Guyana Cooperative Credit Union League and the Credit Union National Association.
Stabroek Business learnt, meanwhile, that last Sunday’s meeting was attended by more than 1,000 members and the unexpected turnout gave rise to logistical challenges that resulted in several key agenda items not being addressed. This newspaper learnt that some key issues including motions, consideration and approval of the Auditor’s Report and hearing and deciding of complaints by members were not addressed during last Sunday’s meeting.
A well-placed credit union official told Stabroek Business that a mechanism will have to be found to ventilate the remaining issues to the satisfaction of the general membership.
