Sahadeo: Policy guidelines must be followed

Christine Sahadeo, Junior Finance Minister with responsibility for State Enterprises, yesterday dismissed the charge made by Ken Gordon, former First Citizens Bank (FCB) chairman, that she attempted to micro-manage the affairs of the bank. “I am at a loss as to what he meant by that,” she said of Gordon’s criticism. “I don’t understand what the problem is,” she added. “I did not understand his statement.” She said all state enterprises were given “large amounts of autonomy,” and FCB, she pointed out, was no different. “People,” she said, “did not understand State enterprises.” Gordon tendered his resignation to Prime Minister Patrick Manning on August 18, citing what he called “the pattern of attempted micro management” by Sahadeo and noted that if this practice continued, it would undermine both growth and confidence in the bank. Manning has since accepted Gordon’s resignation. 

As one of the reasons for his resignation, Gordon referred to Sahadeo’s refusal to sanction his trip to the Dominican Republic (DR) for the inauguration of president Fernandez, saying it cost the bank a significant investment opportunity. In his letter, Gordon said he paid for the trip himself. In making a case for Gordon, FCB CEO Larry Howai, in a letter to Sahadeo, dated August 16, defended the DR trip, saying the president’s invitation was an “ideal opportunity,” given the financial difficulty experienced by that country over the last 18 months, to recommence discussions with Banco de Reservas de la Republica, a government-owned bank. Howai also spoke of financing proposal for a tourism project in the DR and that Gordon was “well connected” to the potential developer.  In a letter to Sahadeo dated September 10, Gordon took issue over her refusal to approve bonus payments for management staff, which had previously been approved by the Public Sector Negotiating Committee (PSNC) and recommended by the FCB board.

He said prior to Sahadeo’s appointment,  former line minister Ken Valley had approved the bonuses. Gordon said Manning intervened and referred the matter to the PSNC, which over-ruled Sahadeo’s decision. In that letter too, Gordon told Sahadeo “your attempts to micro-manage the bank threaten to do significant damage.” “I don’t see it as taking away that autonomy,” Sahadeo said of her involvement in FCB yesterday, adding that the FCB board was operating under broad guidelines. She said there was a state enterprises monitoring manual that clearly sets out policies and guidelines for state enterprises and how they must operate. Noting that she did not sit on FCB’s board, Sahadeo said the board must know what its responsibilities and functions are. “Those guidelines are not Christine Sahadeo’s guidelines but ministry guidelines,” she said, noting that there are “‘levels of authority” written into them. On the appointmment of Sam Martin, former TSTT CEO, as FCB chairman, she said nothing has been finalised as yet, adding that there were other names on the list.