CDB senior officials on administrative leave
Published:Thursday | January 18, 2024 | 11:08 AM
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC – The Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC) has been reliably informed that senior officials of the Barbados-based Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) are on administrative leave.
The sources could not provide further details at this time, but it coincided with the announcement by the bank Wednesday that it had postponed to next month, its annual news conference where it was expected to outline recommendations on how it intended to harness regional and international alliances to broker new partnerships for holistic and inclusive development.
The news conference was originally scheduled for Tuesday next week, but the one paragraph statement announcing the postponement to February 20, gave no reason for the move.
“The Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) will now be holding its 2024 Annual News Conference on Tuesday, February 20, 2024. Subsequent updates will be shared directly and published via Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn,” the statement said.
The Guyana-based on line publication, Demerara Waves Online News late Wednesday quoted a spokeswoman for the region's premier financial institution as saying that the press conference was “rescheduled” but declined to say whether senior bank officials asked to go on leave or were sent on leave.
The spokeswoman told Demerara Waves Online News that “your email has been received. We will get back to you.”
When it announced the scheduled news conference earlier this month, the CDB said that it would be held under the theme “Facilitating Resilient Prosperity” at its headquarters in Wildey, on the outskirts of the capital.
It said the participants would have been its President, Dr Hyginus 'Gene' Leon, the Vice President Finances and Corporate Services, Gregory N Hill, the director of the Projects Department, Therese Turner Jones and the director of the Economic Department, Ian Durant.
The statement had informed local and regional journalists that they could expect an overview of CDB's strategies for resource mobilisation, a review of 2023 regional economic performance and the forecast for 2024 as well as results of the CDB-supported projects implemented in 2023
It said that a preview of planned projects, rationale and expected outcomes for 2024 would have also been made during the news conference.
Journalists were also invited to schedule one-on-one interviews with the CDB presenters, which would have taken place immediately following the news conference that would have been broadcast on the bank's various social media platforms.
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