Cooperators want their bank back
By Indradev Curpen
Published on 28th December, 2007
Cooperators are not happy that their one-time flourishing bank has been absorbed by the post office. They say their identity has been diluted and they do not find themselves anywhere inside the new merger. They hope to have their cooperative bank back in 2008.
“Nothing doing, we want our bank back. It has been snatched away from us. We'll fight to get a new bank exclusively for cooperative members in 2008,” says Guirdharry Juggessur, Chairman, Mauritius Cooperative Agricultural Federation.
“Cooperatives are based on cooperation and I would like to see that, in 2008 , all cooperatives and cooperators join hands together to form a big and strong cooperative movement in Mauritius, not only to urge government to listen to our demands but also to create more wealth for our members. We'll not be able to do that without our own bank, where we have a say,” he adds.
Juggessur feels the Cooperative movement is losing grounds year after year in Mauritius. In spite of more than 50 years of history, the movement is ailing and heading towards death.
It badly needs a serum to revive it. The retail outlets, the sugar cane and vegetable growers societies and even the merged cooperative bank (MPCB) have not registered much growth these past years. There's something wrong somewhere.
“ We need integrity and commitment for the success of the movement,” Juggessur says. The outgoing president of the Mauritius Chamber of Agriculture also feels 2007 has been very fruitful for the Mauritius Cooperative Agricultural Federation with the import of herbicides, pesticides and insecticides. Complex fertilisers and Ammoniac were also imported and sold to members at an affordable price. Seeds were made available to vegetable planters.
An intensive campaign was carried out to group small cane planters into cooperatives for a better predictability. Some 30 to 40% of them rely solely on their crops for revenues. Exchanges were also made with cooperative movements in India to help the local staff to have a better knowledge in management, accountancy and IT.
A twinning with the Indian Farmers Fertilizer Cooperative (IFFCO) resulted in the construction of a Rs 4.7 million MCAF/IFFCO complex at l'Escalier. The complex is providing services and sales to cooperative planters and farmers.
“Cooperatives are based on cooperation and I would like to see that, in 2008 , all cooperatives and cooperators join hands together to form a big and strong cooperative movement in Mauritius, not only to urge government to listen to our demands but also to create more wealth for our members. We'll not be able to do that without our own bank, where we have a say,” he adds.
Juggessur feels the Cooperative movement is losing grounds year after year in Mauritius. In spite of more than 50 years of history, the movement is ailing and heading towards death.
It badly needs a serum to revive it. The retail outlets, the sugar cane and vegetable growers societies and even the merged cooperative bank (MPCB) have not registered much growth these past years. There's something wrong somewhere.
“ We need integrity and commitment for the success of the movement,” Juggessur says. The outgoing president of the Mauritius Chamber of Agriculture also feels 2007 has been very fruitful for the Mauritius Cooperative Agricultural Federation with the import of herbicides, pesticides and insecticides. Complex fertilisers and Ammoniac were also imported and sold to members at an affordable price. Seeds were made available to vegetable planters.
An intensive campaign was carried out to group small cane planters into cooperatives for a better predictability. Some 30 to 40% of them rely solely on their crops for revenues. Exchanges were also made with cooperative movements in India to help the local staff to have a better knowledge in management, accountancy and IT.
A twinning with the Indian Farmers Fertilizer Cooperative (IFFCO) resulted in the construction of a Rs 4.7 million MCAF/IFFCO complex at l'Escalier. The complex is providing services and sales to cooperative planters and farmers.