Rousseau A NUMBER of shareholders tried to block the re-election of Patrick Rousseau as a director of Cable & Wireless Jamaica (C&WJ) yesterday, with one of them suggesting that as long as he was on the board small shareholders would be at a disadvantage.
The move came during the company's annual general meeting at the Hilton Kingston Hotel when chairman Robert Lerwill, who is also chief executive in charge of regional businesses for C&W plc, tried to have a resolution passed to have five people elected to the board.
Mr. Rousseau, an attorney-at-law, had retired from C&WJ's board at the meeting in accordance with the provisions of Article 91 of the Articles of Association, but he was eligible for re-election.
When the chairman moved the resolution to have Mr. Rousseau re-elected, a shareholder moved to have him so re-elected, but another interrupted the proceedings. "I'm wondering, Mr. Chairman, do we have a second person other than the one you present to us?" asked the male shareholder.
Mr. Lerwill, who was appointed to C&WJ's board on June 1, this year, explained that under the provisions, shareholders could have nominated someone other than those selected by the board, but no such nomination was received before yesterday's meeting as required.
The shareholder, who was not identified by name, suggested that in future the credentials of nominees to the board should be sent to shareholders before the meeting "so we can decide on who we should support."
In the end, Mr. Rousseau was re-elected with one vote against, that vote coming from someone other than those who openly opposed him.
Mr. Lerwill said the law provides for shareholders to receive information pertaining to annual general meetings at least 21 days in advance, but the shareholder said he was not personally notified.
The chairman also explained that some of the directors were being appointed to fill vacancies left by the resignation of some of those elected during the last annual general meeting, "and what I'd like to do now is to complete the election of Mr. Rousseau."
At that point, another shareholder, a woman who was also not identified by name, told the meeting: "I personally do not think Mr. Rousseau should be elected a director. As long as he's on the board, small shareholders will never get what they want."
When the chairman again tried to continue the election, the somewhat soft-spoken woman declared, "No, he should not be elected today. This man will never serve the interest of small shareholders and should not be on the board of Cable & Wireless."
At that point, Mr. Lerwill suggested that in the circumstances she could vote against Mr. Rousseau. In the end, Mr. Rousseau was re-elected with one vote against, that vote coming from someone other than those who openly opposed him.
The other directors, James Cheesewright, Nicole Foga, Robert Lerwill and Thomas Phillips, were elected without opposition. All were appointed after the 1999 annual general meeting to fill casual vacancies created by the resignation of Odie Donald, Mark Macfee, Trevor Patterson, Donald Reed and Shirley Tyndall.
During the meeting, shareholder Bobby Montaque, who is also Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) Councillor for the Carron Hall Division of the St. Mary Parish Council, questioned whether C&WJ was on target to install the 217,000 lines to which it committed itself and the areas in which they would be placed.
C&WJ's president and chief executive officer, Errald Miller, said the company was on target, but they have not yet made it public in which communities the lines would be located, noting that that would be done in due course.
