Student loan delinquents in JA exposed

The Students’ Loan Bureau (SLB) has published the names and photographs of 88 individuals it says are delinquent borrowers. The delinquent borrowers were revealed today in a centre spread advertisement in the Sunday Gleaner. According to the SLB, the delinquent stook out loans to pursue a range of courses at mainly the University of the West Indies, the University of Technology, the Northern Caribbean University, and Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts. The SLB had urged those in arrears to contact them to make arrangements for settling outstanding debts prior to the publication of names and photographs in the press. The action by the SLB follows a recent announcement by the Government that delinquent SLB borrowers who were employees of the State would have sums deducted from their salaries to settle their obligations. Finance and Planning Minister Dr Peter Phillips told the Parliament last week that employers in the public sector would be authorised to deduct and remit payments from employees who had outstanding loans with the SLB. About 30 per cent of SLB borrowers are delinquent. (Jamaica Gleaner)