Norton says PNCR/APNU not backing any group for Public Service Coop Credit Union

Last Updated on Tuesday, 18 October 2022, 15:20 by Denis Chabrol

Mr Trevor Benn (standing) addressing a recent meeting of supporters at the Critchlow Labour College.

Opposition Leader Aubrey Norton on Tuesday said his party was not endorsing either faction of the Guyana Public Service Cooperative Credit Union (GPSCCU), although A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) social media platforms have been propagating information from the Trevor Benn faction.

Mr Norton said he was not aware that the PNCR has endorsed anyone but he acknowledged that campaign material  was posted on his party’s social media platform. “To say that we have endorsed somebody, that is not true,” he said.

In keeping with a High Court decision, the GPSCCU is scheduled to hold elections on October 24 at 8 AM at the New Central High School, Princes Street, Georgetown for the Committee of Management from which Mr Benn had been ousted as Chairman several months ago.

No campaign material from the Karen Van Sluytman-Corbin- associated group has been posted on PNCR and APNU social media pages. The PNCR Leader said, while a number of persons in that group are PNCR members, he was keen on blocking the governing People’s Progressive Party Civic from taking control of the credit union. “Our objective is to ensure that the credit union continues to be and becomes an institution that serves its membership and not be hijacked by the PPP,” he said.

The Opposition Leader contended that the PPP was going after cooperative credit unions in an effort to deprive Afro-Guyanese of much needed monies. “In the PPP’s attempt to discriminate and destroy that community, they have gone after every coop that they cannot control,” he said.

Asked whether, in light of his concerns the Benn team was the best option t0 run the affairs of the GPSCCU, he said that was a matter for the members to decide. “The people in the coop credit union will listen to  both sides or how many sides they have and then make the decisions. What I have done is outline what we don’t want to see,” Mr Norton said.

The GPSCCU has an estimated 20,000 members across Guyana and possibly about GY$2 billion in the bank up to December 2020.