Fate saved Gasper

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER (CEO) OF LINDEN ENTEPRISE NETWORK (LEN)
TANNIZA GASPER is to blame for the current stagnation of the financial entity according to
Secretary of the Board of Directors, Ms. Valerie Patterson.
Patterson said the Board wanted Gasper fired more than a year ago for poor performance but the
tardiness of its Chairman, Mr. Orrin Gordon, and the fight against the deadly COVID-19 global
pandemic here prevented it.
“Since last year the Board had instructed the Chair to write the CEO on the discrepancies and
irregularities and her low competence level. However, a decision was made that by the end of
April last year, if the performance of the CEO was not improved, the Board would have taken a
decision to send her off,” Patterson said.
Gordon ignored the Board’s instructions, but Patterson was personally apprised of the hurdles
facing the embattled financial body by others in the bauxite-mining community.
“Some of these issues were raised at the level of the Board with its Chairman, Mr. Orrin Gordon
(and) some were raised with me when I was in Linden. These issues were discussed at the level
of the Board. As it relates to decision-making, the Board had discussed the dissatisfaction and
disappointment on more than one occasion with regards to the performance of the CEO and I
remembered a menu of measures were put in place by the board,” Patterson recalled.
Firing Gasper was among the menu.
“When we met again to discussed what happened, COVID struck. After that meeting the staff
were put on rotation (and) they could not visit clients. A moratorium was put in place for clients
because they are all business clients and so the percentage areas and the level of repayments
were not met. The desired action could not be taken against the CEO because we couldn’t fault
her for the staff not being able to visits clients as they ought to,” LEN Board Secretary, Patterson
explained.
Nevertheless, in the intervening time, Gasper’s performance never improved. Patterson said
when she queried about warning letters to the CEO on her unacceptable performance and about
discrepancies and irregularities they were stunned to learn “no letter was issued by the Chair.”

“So, we had nothing to go on, and because there was nothing in her file about her poor
performance the Board could not take any disciplinary actions her,” Secretary Patterson
explained.
Financial discrepancies were not among the long list of complaints raised by some Board
members and LEN staff, Patterson confirmed.
“I am not aware of any financial irregularities. I asked the staff and nobody said anything in the
meeting about any financial irregularities that they can pinpoint.”
“We had put some other measures in place and then Government changed —-” Patterson
said.