KINGSTOWN, St. Vincent, CMC – St. Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves Wednesday said he is not prepared to comment on the ongoing situation regarding the embattled President of the Barbados-based Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) Dr . Hyginus “Gene” Leon, who has been sent on administrative leave since January.
“There is an ongoing, and the Governorgovernorsbank is engaged in that process. And I wouldn’t want to comment while that process is ongoing,” Gonsalves said on the state-owned NBC Radio.
On Tuesday, the Vincentian-born acting CDB president, Isaac Solomon, confirmed that there is “an internal administrative process involving the President.
“The bank is extremely focused on preserving the independence, confidentiality, and integrity of the process, and as you can well appreciate, us to maintain the integrity and confidentiality of the process, we are unable to provide any other details at this time,” Solomon told reporters during the bank’s annual news conference.
According to the bank’s website statement, the Board of Governors is the highest policy-making body of CDB and meets once a year.
It said all of the powers of CDB are in the hands of the Board of Governors, which can delegate its powers to the Board of Directors except on some issues such as the admission of new members, change in capital stock, election of directors and the President as well as an amendment of the Charter and the termination of the operations of CDB.
Leon, the highly regarded St. Lucian-born economist, is the sixth president of a regional development finance institution. He was elected at a special CDB Board of Governors meeting held on January 19, 2021, for a five-year term and assumed office on May 4, 2021.
CMC has been reliably informed that the Board of Governors met last Monday and that ‘some members expressed concern no acting appointments were made,
“We did not appoint him; we’re not sure who did,” said a source familiar with the meeting about Solomon’s acting appointment.
Gonsalves told radio listeners that his only comment now would be that he would like the CDB to continue its work, saying, “The CDB is an organization with hundreds of persons working, with good quality professionals, and the work continues.”
Last month, the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) leaders expressed their “utter disappointment and shock” at the treatment being meted out to the embattled CDB president, who was reportedly sent on administrative leave until April.
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