By George Henry, Gleaner WriterSPALDINGS, Clarendon:
A REORGANISATIONAL exercise currently being undertaken islandwide by the Development Bank of Jamaica (DBJ), under whose watch People's Co-operative Banks now fall, has resulted in the closure of the Malvern and Southfield PC Banks in St. Elizabeth.
According to Paul Miller, who has responsibility for overseeing the PC banks, said that the reorganisation of these banks across the island has resulted in the rationalisation of a number of branches.
Mr. Miller stated that the Malvern and Southfield PC Banks, which were closed recently, happened to be among those that fell in the group currently being rationalised and so customers, mostly farmers who usually depend on those branches for various services, are now going elsewhere.
He stated that there were over 70 branches of the PC banks across the island, but that most of them were being merged with other branches to make them more cost-effective.
However, regarding the Malvern branch, Mr. Miller pointed out that in the general area around Malvern, there were branches at Southfield, Santa Cruz and Newell, but those branches have been merged due mainly to the level of business which was being generated at the facilities.
As a result, all four, including the bank at Malvern, have been merged. Malvern has been merged with Santa Cruz, while the Southfield and Newell branches are now one entity.
Customers who were being served by the Malvern branch up to August, now have to travel to the Santa Cruz branch, while those who were being served by the Southfield branch are now journeying to the Newell branch to transact business.
Mr. Miller pointed out that, in terms of regular membership, the Malvern branch had been serving over 600 customers with different types of accounts, while over five hundred and fifty were being served by the branch at Southfield.
He added that, as far as employee dislocation was concerned, only one worker from the Malvern branch had been made redundant. However, he was not certain if any of those who worked at the Southfield branch had been made redundant. Asked what would become of the buildings at Malvern and Southfield, Mr. Miller noted that discussions were being held regarding the lease of the Malvern branch.
"Discussions are in an advanced stage regarding the renting of the building at Malvern. I know that they (personnel at the Black River PC bank) have an agreement with somebody already, which would preserve some of the services that were being offered in the area," said Mr. Miller.
It is not yet clear if a decision has been made as to whether or not the building, which usually housed the Southfield branch, would be rented.
Apart from saving and loan facilities, both the Malvern and Southfield branches offered Western Union services, as well as the selling of calling cards to Digicel and Cable and Wireless phone users.
Services offered on behalf of both telecommunication giants and those carried out on behalf of Western Union would continue when the building in Malvern is rented, Mr. Miller said.
