WESTERN BUREAU — The South Trelawny Community Development Fund (CDF) has been taking some of its delinquent borrowers to court in a get-tough campaign aimed at collecting as much of the approximately $10 million owed to the fund.

General manager at the South Trelawny CDF, Glester Rowe, told the Observer that over the past few months a number of delinquent borrowers have been taken to court after several efforts to get them to repay failed.

“In fact, it has reached the stage where we have had to take out warrants of commitment for 13 people,” Rowe said.

He added that of the 13, one has been arrested, three have left the island and three have since paid while the bailiff has been looking for the others to see if the money can be repaid.

Rowe said that the South Trelawny CDF, an approved lending agency of the Micro Investment Development Agency (MIDA), now has a loan portfolio of $31 million and of that amount, “potential bad debt” stands at about $10 million.

According to Rowe, the CDF has no choice but to get tough on these borrowers.

“Some borrowers believe that the CDF money is free money so they do not have to pay and the truth is that some of them feel that they can go to the nearest politician and it ends there… but that’s not so. We are in this thing to do business and we try as much as possible to help the borrowers,” Rowe said.

“If we find out that someone is having a difficult time, what we will do is to reschedule the loan and, if necessary, tie his loan over with another loan. But despite all of this they seem not to appreciate it.”

The South Trelawny Community Development Fund is a community-based organisation that commenced operations in 1997. Since then, it has made available 561 loans, valued at $56 million, to its members.

Approximately 90 per cent of the loans are made to clients in the agricultural sector, while the manufacturing and service sectors account for the remainder.

At its annual general meeting held in Albert Town earlier this week, chairman of the organisation, Roxwell Mullings, said the CDF plans to disburse $20 million to its clients this year.

“Up to June, we have disbursed $6 million, so we are on target,” Mullings told the meeting.

He noted that despite the high level of delinquent borrowers the organisation presently has a surplus of $684,240.

“The organisation is truly on its way to profitability and sustainability,” he said.

A total of 13 students from schools in South Trelawny were awarded scholarships valued at over $100,000 by the South Trelawny CDF at the well-attended function.

Next year, the organisation plans to award another 13 scholarships, but chairman of the CDF, Rudolph Brown, told the meeting that in order to qualify, applicants will have to be the children of borrowers.