HON. ROLAND BHOLA

It is critically important to provide people with financial management skills and financial education in our changing society.

Minister for Sports, Community Development and Co-operatives, Hon. Roland Bhola made this observation at the official opening of the Belmont Estate branch of the Grenville Co-operative Credit Union.

Bhola said it is his hope that with the Grenville Co-operative Credit Union establishing a branch at Belmont Estate it will not only endeavor to have the workers and farmers in the community saving money or accessing loans but is going to ensure that these additional services are provided.

He lamented that one of the realities of our society is the fact that many persons work for an entire month and only get to keep their salaries for one day and that he said is not fair. The reason for this says Bhola is that enough people do not understand how to budget and how to manage their money and are therefore not able to meet their needs.

He would then like to see that additional service be provided for the people which he said is necessary if we want to see the community continue to grow and develop.

The Minister is convinced that the need to see the community develop is at the heart of Belmont Estate and the Grenville Credit Union and that is why together they made the decision to establish the new branch there.

Bhola, the Member of Parliament for the St. Andrew’s North-East constituency feels strongly that people should be taught how to invest wisely. He said if one cannot save small amounts he/she will not be able to save large amounts so people should always ensure that they save a bit of whatever they earn and whatever they save must be invested and the returns of that investment must also be invested.

The minister appealed to the listeners that if they are to move out of their present position to a better one it takes much more than saving and assessing of loans, it is about using their money much more smartly than they were using it before.

Bhola is confident that the new partnership between Belmont Estate and Grenville credit Union is an avenue to do just that.

He was full of admiration for the two entities that made the new branch a reality saying that in the case of Belmont Estate he always feels more refreshed every time he visits the place since it seems more beautiful all the time and that the beauty remains natural.

He applauded the management on the fact that they are adding another service to Belmont Estate in the form of traditional banking (credit union) “in the way that we knew it from many years ago coming out from how our fore parents did it in the form of the Sou- Sou and the Sunday society concepts”.

Bhola said there are many things that one celebrates in life but what was being celebrated at the opening was an activity that will transform the lives of many persons for many years to come.

The minister said from the Cooperative department, the Ministry as a whole and as Parliamentary Representative for the St. Andrew’s North-East where a great percentage of the workers on the estate come from, he wholeheartedly supports the initiative.

He assured both partners that he stands available any time to give his assistance freely once called upon.

Bhola wished success on the endeavor expressing his confidence that it can be successful once all play their part in a responsible way.

He had a word of caution for those in charge. They must see themselves as servants of the people, there to provide a service and not to be lords of those who placed them there.

He said without the workers and the members the staff would be out of a job so everyone must equally share the benefits of the establishment.