CoopEnergy: BAMC in breach

The Barbados Sustainable Energy Cooperative Society (CoopEnergy) says that up to the time the Barbados Agricultural Management Company (BAMC) terminated the agreement between the two entities, it remained in the dark about the financial state of the sugar industry.

It is also contending that the severing of the agreement, via a letter in August, “represents a clear breach of contract”, and CoopEnergy reserves the right to “pursue the matter with all possible resources”.

These were among the decisions reached at a meeting on October 25 to update members of the cooperative movement about the ill-fated plan to take up Government’s offer to privatise the sugar industry.

Correspondence shared with the membership and obtained by the DAILY NATION itemised the steps from 2023 when CoopEnergy became aware that Government intended to divest some of the stateowned enterprises.

After Government negotiations with another entity fell through, CoopEnergy said it sent a proposal that was accepted by the BAMC, which in turn drafted a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to guide the transition process.

However, in a paid advertisement in yesterday’s SUNDAY SUN, BAMC contended the confidentiality of the MOU was breached and it was “unfortunate” the terms were made public.

“Instead of resolving issues privately between the parties, public statements were made that caused doubt and anxiety regarding the partnership and the viability of the industry,” BAMC listed as a concern.

It noted the need to protect the interests of former employees who were promised shares and “the failure to complete the intended investments may have created uncertainty for staff, farmers, suppliers and other stakeholders”.

Lieutenant Colonel Trevor Browne, a director of CoopEnergy, said yesterday he was not sure what prompted the BAMC to issue the advertisement, but was of the view it was because of the meeting.

“We had the AGM (annual general meeting) where members were obviously aware of all the intricate details and had access to all the documents and correspondence and all that. So my members are fully aware of what went down and why, how weird things are,” he said.

“This may put pressure on the BAMC to start to do something, but I really think that they need to put a name [to the statement] that the press can talk to about what their concerns really are. Because they never shared their identity, they just told us that they’re done.

“We are not aware of what their concerns are. We said to them, ‘If we’re buying something from you, even if I was buying a car from you, I would bring my mechanic to check it or send it to [name of company] or some independent person to say that this is worth $5 000’,” Browne said via telephone.

He stressed that their bone of contention was that in the two years of negotiations, they were unable to look at the books for financial information.

After a meeting convened by Minister of Agriculture Indar Weir last November 27, he instructed that the requested financial information be provided by BAMC, but “despite this, and after several written and verbal requests, no such information was ever received from BAMC or Government”, Browne told members in the correspondence. Attempts to reach Weir and Ambassador Dr Clyde Mascoll – senior economic advisor who was a representative of Government and the person who sent the letter terminating the agreement – were unsuccessful. In March, Browne raised concerns about the stalled negotiations as well as changes to the original agreement and said CoopEnergy would not be buying a pig in a bag.

“It would be irresponsible for any cooperative in Barbados to authorise such significant investments in an industry that has been known to be failing, without complete financial disclosure, as well as coherent business projections, which clearly show how previous failings are to be addressed,” he said then.

Weir, in turn, said CoopEnergy had been making excuses for not investing the agreed $16 million.

“I cannot continue to take excuses about the injection of funds they were supposed to have done since the inception. To drag this out by using things like not receiving financial statements . . . and to use their delay to suggest there is a stalemate,” he said.

The initial payment was $4 million and Weir said if CoopEnergy was unable to meet its financial obligations, another entity would do so. At that time, the Democratic Labour Party’s spokesperson on agriculture, Amoy Gilding-Bourne, called for a comprehensive audit of operations at Portvale Sugar Factory.

When Weir was next reached about the issue in April, he deferred to Mascoll, who he said was leading the project, but would not be entertaining any questions about CoopEnergy.

Meanwhile, the cooperative movement said it would conceptualise a strategy to be used to pursue the matter as indicated in the response to the BAMC’s August letter, and would convene a special general meeting for members on the proposed strategy.

As outlined in the advertisement, BAMC said it would seek new, credible investors; ensure the subscription and issuance of shares to former employees; continue to work with the Agricultural Business Company Ltd and the Barbados Energy and Sugar Company Inc. so farming, factory and energy projects could continue; and also communicate with farmers, stakeholders and the public about progress and the next steps. (SAT)

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