By:FAIR SHARE FOR ALL
In all of the twenty years of Douglas and Labour, I cannot recall hearing WINNFM or any other media outlet having to report on the sad state of affairs at our very own St. Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla National Bank.
The situation at the bank is so alarming and disconcerting that a document may have been leaked to the radio station so that shareholders and depositors could be made aware that all is not well at the bank.
The fact that the Central Bank took the time to point out that one of the directors “did not meet the fit and proper criteria” to be appointed to this illustrious institution suggested to me that the ECCB had grown weary in trying to get the government to correct this glaring disrespect for the Banking Act.
But let’s be real. How can someone who is millions of dollars in arrears to National Bank be a director on the board of National Bank and sit in meetings where people with arrears to National Bank are being asked to pay up? I will hazard a guess that the non-performing loans is at 23.1% due in large measure to the delinquency of this director’s loan.
It is not that the government did not know that it would be in breach of the Banking Act when they appointed the good gentleman to the board. But despite the uproar from the citizenry, the government totally ignored good sense and good governance and did what they wanted to do, as usual.
The good gentleman is a holy man. In fact, the good gentleman is a pastor of a large flock. What example can he be setting to his congregation?
It is no lie. From the time Team Unity took over the reins of power in the Federation, there has never been a week without drama. And it is not good drama. It is always something to embarrass us. To make us feel ashamed. To make us feel that we are being ruled by a rogue government.
Without remorse, they wilfully and deliberately break all the rules to satisfy their friends and family. They mean that they are in charge and they can do as they please.
No Central Bank can tell them anything.
No Bajan with nearly twenty years’ experience in credit risk management can tell them anything. No woman with nearly forty years’ experience in banking can tell them anything.
What happens in the National Bank does not have to be sound banking practices. It just has to be what Team Unity wants.
And while I am aware that the government is the majority shareholder and appoints the directors, accepted and acceptable banking practices should not be sacrificed just to please the ruling political party.
So now our National Bank is in the news and it is not good news.
What will happen next? Shall we hear a statement from the majority shareholder?
Shall we hear abuse of the Central Bank officials for writing the letter?
Shall we hear abuse of the National Bank officials for leaking the letter?
Will the “unfit” director be finally removed from the board or will the arrears cease to exist?\
Why aren’t we hearing from those who, prior to 16th February, 2015, epitomised the moral fibre of our society?
Where are the blogs and the bloggers who would have saturated the call in programmes and Facebook protesting this outrage?
They found the time to ensure that the world knew the fictitious story that human faeces was on its way from Dubai to be dumped into our surrounding water. So how come they have nothing to say now?
It’s interesting and instructive. They have time for the fake news but no time for the real news.
It is obvious that it depends on which political party is in government. That will determine whether there is a public outcry or not from certain circles.
For example, they had nothing to say publicly about the illegal Stem Cell research. Nothing to say publicly about the Herpes Vaccination trials. Nothing to say regarding the appointment of the “unfit” director.
So we wait, with bated breath, to see how this story will unfold.
In the twenty years of Labour, I cannot recall that a media house had anything but praise for the most successful indigenous bank in all of the Caribbean. Now in two and a half short years, the bank is getting negative attention in the media.
No wonder the chairman resigned in short order. No wonder the Chief Credit Risk Manager did likewise.
Depositors and shareholders want to hear from someone in authority. But, to be expected, no one is available to talk to the media.
What is Team Unity really about? Why is it that every single thing that they touch, something goes wrong?
Obeah? Jumbie? Corruption? What is it?
We need to get the rid of this evil spell that was cast on our federation on 16th February, 2015.
Even those that were curious are now saying that the federation needs back the government that it had before.