Adri­an Boodan

Af­ter run­ning the mul­ti-mil­lion dol­lar em­pire of the Hin­du Cred­it Union (HCU), Har­ry Harnar­ine has opened a roti busi­ness in Ch­agua­nas. Eye­brows were raised when Ra­j­moshi, a fast food out­let, was opened a few weeks ago in what was once the cov­et­ed HCU head­quar­ters op­po­site the Ch­agua­nas Po­lice Sta­tion.

Harnar­ine said Ra­j­moshi was opened by the HCU Food Cor­po­ra­tion Co Ltd. He said the busi­ness plan of HCU Food was changed in 2007 be­cause of the cash flow prob­lem caused by the run on the HCU. Harnar­ine said the board of di­rec­tors of the food cor­po­ra­tion agreed that the busi­ness should be di­vest­ed in­to the fast food are­na and a quick shop ser­vice. He said busi­ness at Ra­j­moshi has picked up im­mense­ly be­cause of the com­pet­i­tive prices and range of dish­es.

He not­ed that while a chick­en roti can be pur­chased, Ra­j­moshi does not serve pork or beef. Harnar­ine said the name was de­vel­oped when the HCU Share­hold­ers and De­pos­i­tors Co Ltd (HCUS­D­CL) sat with him to de­vise a plan to di­vest the cred­it union as­sets to pay de­pos­i­tors who have been call­ing on the HCU for mon­ey.

"They (the HCUS­D­CL) have agreed to buy shares in these com­pa­nies with a new busi­ness plan and in­ject mon­ey in­to it and these monies would be used to pay out de­pos­i­tors who have been call­ing back for their de­posits," he said. Harnar­ine said $425 mil­lion in de­posits was be­ing de­mand­ed from the share­hold­ers.