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Photo: LR: Adelita Garcia receives a refrigerator from Dr. John Morris, president of the St. Martin Credit Union, as credit union staff look on.
Orlando Polishing
Santa Elena, Cayo District, Sunday, June 2, 2024
St. Martin’s Credit Union (SMCU) held its Annual General Meeting at the Sacred Heart College Auditorium on Friday, May 31, to update members on SMCU’s progress for the 2023-2024 period.
In the board report, SMCU president Dr. John Morris said credit unions are “formed under the framework of cooperative principles. Credit unions and their members are viewed as one extended family.”
Dr. John Morris reported that 2024 member shares were $27,079,623, up 7.46% from the previous year. SMCU’s total assets were $39,153,354 million, up 3.30% from the previous year. However, Morris noted that despite the increase in shares of “assets and loan receivables, our net income did not increase significantly.”
Ms. Santos Tesecum stated in her credit committee report that 2,500 loans totaling $17,003,298.61 were applied for in 2024. Of these loan applications, 1,941 were approved totaling $9,520,892.44.
Ms. Laura Serra also spoke on behalf of the Supervisory Board. Serra told the participants that in 2023, the Group participated in meetings to develop a three-year strategic plan. The Supervisory Board is also part of the Finance and Audit Committee, through which it contributed to the budget work for 2024-2025.
In her financial report, Ms. Seidy Garcia concluded that SMCU continues to mitigate external challenges. According to Garcia, the cost of living continues to rise while revenues remain stagnant. “We are at a stage where financial management is even more important for survival. We need to be more innovative in how we serve our customers. I must say that is exactly what your credit union is doing so that we remain a viable option to meet the needs of our members, who are close to 11,000 and growing,” said Garcia.
Garcia continued: “It has indeed been another difficult year as we have been entrusted by the central bank to ensure the completion of the update of the policy and procedure manual and the timely implementation of the recommended internal measures.”
“First, I want to thank all the members of the San Martin Credit Union. They are very dynamic, robust, dedicated and very loyal to their credit union. Remember, this is Cayo’s credit union. We are the premier financial institution in Cayo. We serve the poor and marginalized; our members are the unbanked, uncredited people in Cayo; they are truly the poor man’s bank,” said Dr. Morris.
SMCU provides assistance to the agricultural sector
“I would just like to add that we also have a lot of members who are in the agricultural sector and we try to encourage our farmers to produce the food that we Belizeans eat. St. Maarten Credit Union provides them with good finance. We help them; especially in this time of fires, drought, St. Maarten Credit Union helps the farmers,” he added.
There were no vacancies on the SMCU board this year, so no elections were held. During the meeting, Dr. Morris announced a 3.2% dividend.
SMCU also has a branch in Benque Viejo, where it has been operating for five years. For this branch alone, the audited statements show a net cash flow of US$1.16 million.
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