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Dear Mr. Editor,
I hardly ever write anything in the newspaper, but I am making the exception today because of genuine and growing concerns I have with the business operations of Banks DIH Ltd. My husband is somewhat of a prominent shareholder at the company, and he has been for more than a decade. While he is content with only voicing his discontent to me, I think I too have my own anxieties about the Company?s recent maneuverings, consequently leading me to write this letter. I have witnessed first and Banks DIH Ltd?s move from one of the leading businesses conglomerates in Guyana, to one struggling to keep up with changing economic times and quickly fluctuating business needs, thus leading to the closure, near closure and struggles of a number of its business?s in Guyana.
Years ago you just had to know about Demico/Idiho/QuikServ, the Arawak Steak House, Camp Site and a number of their other businesses that were ?staples? of everyday life in Guyana, all under the umbrella of Banks DIH Ltd. Service was great and above all they produced high class and tasty meals with standards to match. Jump forward a few years and one wonders if this could be the same Company.
Demico in Linden has closed down, it had been said that it was because of poor sales. When one looks at Church?s Chicken and Mario?s that are now booming in Linden with lines that sometimes end up outside of the building, one wonders what could have prompted such ?lack of sales?.
Kitty?s Demico outlet closed down, other smaller and larger businesses doing and producing most of the same things that outlet produced are still thriving. Camp Site has closed its doors. The Arawak Steak House has closed up shop as well.
Arapaima seems to be following that line with hardly any customers dining coupled with standards that are deplorable. OMG which was originally touted as ?the place? to dine ? now far from it.
Demico/Idiho/QuikServ in the heart of Georgetown seems to be heading there too. Pastries always appear and taste stale. Service has gone down the drain. The place is smelly and has metamorphosed into a proverbial liming and wasting time spot.
Most times when you enter the facility at least 90% of those utilizing it have not bought anything. The maids and security guards occupy well needed seats and are usually loud and ruckus.
How this could escape the attention of the management of Banks DIH Ltd is beyond puzzling and makes me wonder if they are desirous of closing down all of these places. Most of their properties/places of business are on prime real estate, easily accessible by consumers so there is hardly any excuse.
What is clear is that a series of bad business practices and elementary break downs in management, more than likely contributed to the decline and in some cases demise of these brands identified earlier. Where is the management?
One would assume that better promotion combined with well thought out business strategies would be utilized with greater financial resources being injected into these failing businesses, but that seems far from the mind of management of Banks DIH Ltd. It?s almost as though they are preoccupied with things more important than ?business?? which would be worrying. These places like Demico/Idiho/Camp Site etc. are part of the fabric of Guyanese society and help us to have something that is uniquely Guyanese ? ?Our own?.
Monies are being invested in all sorts of other areas but nothing is being invested in the very thing that now allows them to make these investments ? the business. Last year a large amount of money was spent on football and at first I thought this was a great way to re-energize the young people into Banks DIH Ltd?s services and products and thought that the attention from the football tournaments etc. would then be channeled somewhere else in the business arena; never happened.
Millions of dollars spent, not to ?sponsor? a tournament, but to become actively involved in running it. So we allow our businesses to collapse all around us, at the sake of running tournaments.
Corporate responsibility is fulfilled with the act of writing a cheque and working towards its good usage. But to do an entire tournament seems for the most part a ?tournament for itself?, with no conceivable gains.
My husband (a football lover) and I tried to attend the event, but with an extremely bad venue, no place to park, and haphazard management of the gate, you simply could not stay for too long. There was no place to sit or stand; it was obvious that the organizers (Banks DIH Ltd ) had not managed the tournament/crowd/gate effectively enough, so you had more than double the amount of people than the ground could accommodate. A recipe for disaster ? Poor management exemplified.
Again poor management embarrasses Banks DIH Ltd and all its shareholders who are responsible for electing a number of these very people. Recently, I found out that Banks DIH Ltd will be hosting the Tournament again and are investing even more millions. To what end? Wouldn?t this money be better utilized in bringing back the businesses to some semblance of respectability and profitability?
Even if we ignore the well known fact that this football tournament and football in Guyana at the national level generally, has its own inherent issues with feuding divisions and battling national organizers, added to the fact (if I am to believe the writings in the newspaper) that business went bad between the Kashif and Shanghai Organization and Banks DIH Ltd thus prompting them to launch their own tournament.
There is no other justifiable reason for such a large investment in football without an equal or greater investment in the subsidiaries/arms of the company other than this is a ?feeding of the ego?; One that comes at a great cost to Banks DIH Ltd and its subsidiaries and naturally, the shareholders as well.
By no means am I saying not to support football in Guyana, whichever organization, team or tournament they so desire, but it is time that Banks DIH Ltd return to its secondary and rightful role as ?sponsor? not organizer and implementer and refocus on its ?primary? role of ?business? for the sake of all stakeholders.
Dr. Indira Gopaul
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