Guyana and the cooperative...

that “the Cooperative Movement is destined to be a beacon of hope for economic development of our nation,” and that it had the potential “of becoming the third pillar of our economic infrastructure,” a pronouncement which, even to the casual observer of the Guyana economy, appeared so out of touch with reality that it was hardly surprising that it did not even attract a notable critical public comment.

It was the same with the pronouncement in the Minister’s year-end review to the effect that last year marked something of a resurgence for the cooperative movement. Again, little if any concrete evidence attended the assertion beyond the assertion that the Ministry was taking a fresh approach to the cooperative movement aimed at removing corruption and mismanagement and holding cooperatives to higher standards by encouraging transparency and accountability. “The intent of this fresh approach.” Scott was quoted as saying, “is the elimination of corruption, nepotism and other forms of unprofessional behavior, which are factors that do not reflect human development and the acquisition of a good life,” though no real details were provided regarding what this ‘fresh approach” would be.

For reasons that are far from clear the Ministry of Social Protection appears decidedly disinclined to release into the public domain the 2017 Report of the Ministerial Task Force titled Revitalization of the Cooperative Movement which, we are told, seeks to probe the problem of non-functioning cooperatives and to determine their feasibility for moving the country forward. What appears to have been an official decision to keep the report under wraps has, not surprisingly, been construed as an attempt to conceal the extent of the underperformance of the cooperative movement even though Scott is on record as saying that recommendations arising out of the report have already been implemented.

Arguably, one indication of a likely decline in the local appetite for the cooperative as a vehicle for doing business reposes is the emergence in recent years of a surfeit of conventional business ventures in sectors such as agro - processing, food vending, small and medium-scale farming and transportation services, sectors once considered to be ideally suited to the cooperative model. The reality is – and the records, once they become available, will probably bear this out – the prevailing apprehension for the cooperative as a ‘business model’ derives not only from the disappointing outcomes that have manifested themselves in many instances but also from the failure of until now on the part of the cooperative movement as a whole to significantly correct its failings and move on.