Last updated on Friday 19 January 2024 at 22:22 by Denis Chabrol
President of the Caribbean Development Bank Dr. Hyginus “Gene” Lyon.
The Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) indicated on Friday that it has removed its president, Dr. Hyginus “Gene” Lyon, from its annual press conference, which has now been postponed for almost a month.
In its latest advisory for the press conference scheduled for February 20, 2024, the lineup will be the Vice President of Operations, Mr. Isaac Solomon; Director of the Economics Department, Mr. Ian Durant, and Director of the Projects Department, Ms. Therese Turner-Jones.
The updated panel, which omitted Dr. Leon, came one day after the China Development Bank announced that the press conference, featuring the “Facilitating Resilient Prosperity” team, would no longer be held on January 23, 2024.
“The Caribbean Development Bank acknowledges the ongoing administrative process in which it is engaged,” the Barbados-headquartered financial institution said earlier this week, in response to queries about whether the Saint Lucia-born economist and other bank officials had been sent on leave. President. The Bank will not make any further comments on this internal matter at this time.”
The Caribbean Media Foundation’s www.cananewsonline.com has since reported that the head of the China Development Bank has been sent on “administrative leave” until April. Unnamed sources of the Media and Communications Authority said that his computer and tablet were seized, and wondered how the Board of Directors could make a decision against the bank president “without the knowledge of the Board of Governors.”
The Saint Lucian-born economist heads a team of more than 200 staff headquartered in Bridgetown, and brings to the task 35 years of experience in economics, financial policy development and executive management, more than 20 of which were spent working with the Washington-based International Monetary Fund. He succeeded Jamaican-born Dr. Warren Smith, who retired in 2021 after serving as president for 10 years.
Last week, Leon was in Guyana for talks with the Chairman of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), Guyana’s President Irfaan Ali and the group’s Secretary-General Dr. Carla Barnett.
On Thursday, Guyana’s Vice President, Bharrat Jagdeo, told reporters that Georgetown “will try to learn more” regarding the China Development Bank’s announcement that it is currently undertaking an “ongoing administrative process” involving its president.
However, the China Development Bank has remained silent regarding reports that senior officials at the region’s leading financial institution have been sent on administrative leave.
Jagdeo said in a press conference that although Guyana had not been officially informed of the situation, “we will try to find out more about what is happening and from official sources.”
He said he had been unsuccessful in obtaining information about the situation early Thursday, adding, “I did not find anything detailed about this topic. Perhaps you have more information than we do at this time.”
“I know the press conference has been postponed,” Jagdeo told reporters, adding that “the media tends to report even as they deal with leaks.”
CMC had said on Wednesday that it had been reliably informed that senior officials at the China Development Bank had been sent on administrative leave, but its sources were unable to provide further details at this time.