CDB President on leave, officials still mum

The Barbados-based Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) is yet to comment further on reports that some of its senior officials are now on administrative leave.

This came as the regional development finance institution postponed its annual news conference, scheduled for its Wildey, St Michael headquarters, by nearly a month. The previous date was January 23, while the new one is February 20.

The CDB issued a short statement to Caribbean media on Wednesday night, only saying: “Caribbean Development Bank acknowledges an ongoing administrative process involving the president. The Bank will not be making any further comments on this internal matter at this time”.

St Lucian economist Dr Hyginus ‘Gene’ Leon is the current president of the CDB, having taken office on May 4, 2021, after being elected at a special meeting of the bank’s board of governors held on January 19 the same year.

He was scheduled to be the main speaker when the CDB originally announced on January 4, that it would hold its annual news conference on January 23, under the theme Facilitating Resilient Prosperity.

In addition to Leon, the other participants named were Gregory N Hill, vice president finance & corporate services; Therese Turner Jones, director, Projects Department; Ian Durant, director, Economics Department.

The CDB said the news conference would focus on “recommendations on how CDB intends to harness regional and international alliances to broker new partnerships for holistic and inclusive development; an overview

of CDB’s strategies for resource mobilisation; a review of 2023 regional economic performance and the forecast for 2024; results of CDB-supported projects implemented in 2023; a preview of planned projects, rationale and expected outcomes for 2024”.

As is customary, the news conference would have statements and presentations by the named senior officials and one-on-one media interviews with the presenters afterwards.

On Wednesday when it announced the rescheduled news conference, the bank said that “subsequent updates would be shared directly and published via Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn”. (Barbados NationNews)