THE DE-COMMISSIONING OF THE COMISSIONER OF INSURANCE

May 17, 2009 AFC Column, Features / Columnists

By Khemraj Ramjattan
AFC Chairman
The present debacle at CLICO has some seriously frightening proportions about it. This conclusion is discernible from a number of closely associated developments over the past weeks.
The first development is the PPP/C Government’s absolute reluctance to have an independent investigation done. One aspect evidencing this is His Excellency’s conditionality that there must be a joint investigation concerning Globe Trust.

This is rank diversion and circuity which ensures absolutely no such CLICO investigation. The other is PPP iron lady, Ms. Gail Teixeira, who chairs the Economic Services Sector Committee, slamming shut a Parliamentary investigation through her fanciful, erroneous application of the sub-judice rule. Her view is that judicial managership means a complete shut down of Parliamentary oversight and scrutiny. This is so outrageous a perspective.

The second development is the shooting of the Commissioner of Insurance, Ms. Maria van Beek.
Thirdly is the lighting–quick passage of the transfer of powers and functions of the Office of Commissioner of Insurance to the Bank of Guyana. The big question behind each of these developments is: WHY? Why no investigation? Why the shooting? Why the swift transfer of powers and functions from the Office of Commissioner of Insurance onto the Bank of Guyana in 2009, a complete volte fas from Government’s previous stance in 1998?

This PPP/C Government, and especially its President, has a lot to answer for on these questions. Not wanting an investigation proves circumstantially that there are embarrassing improprieties and illegalities senior Government officials were involved in. Moreover, there is every probability that the insurance sector became vulnerable to various forms of manipulation and abuse.
On this latter score there is credible, cogent evidence which I am aware of that senior government functionaries, and the Bank of Guyana were all aware of CLICO moving out approximately US $34M (thirty four million United States dollars), in breach of the Insurance Act, to a foreign country since 2006. This breach of the law was discovered through the investigative work of the Office of the Commissioner of Insurance.

Worse still is that the Office of the Commissioner of Insurance was prevented in 2007 from prosecuting CLICO, which action would have ensured that CLICO bring this sum back home into Guyana. This was long before the crash of Duprey’s CLICO empire.
On the score of why the transfer of powers and functions from the Office of Commissioner of Insurance to the Bank of Guyana, there again convincing information has emerged that this transfer has nothing to do with what Mr. Ashni Singh said in the National Assembly recently. His argument that times have changed since 1998, and there is need now for one monopoly regulator, the Bank of Guyana, to scutinise the financial sector – as against a plurality of regulators such as one in the Insurance sector, all watching each other, as Finance Minister Jagdeo had argued for in 1998 – is a specious ploy to cover up the true rationale behind the transfer.

Rather, it all has to do with the power of the granting of insurance licences. This power under the Insurance Act of 1998 resided in the Commissioner of Insurance. This has now been transferred to Bank of Guyana.
Now please understand the context here. The Office of Commissioner of Insurance refused and revoked the Safeco Group of Companies’ insurance licences because of its growing notoriety in a multiplicity of matters. These companies included Safeco, Caricom Insurance formerly Guyflag, Fidelity, Kong, amongst others. It was almost certain that the Office of the Commissioner of Insurance under Ms. van Beek would never have given any of these associated companies an insurance licence.

The President on several occasions intervened on behalf of this group of companies to no avail. The Office of the Commissioner of Insurance stood its ground. Safeco’s empire has tried everything, even recently appointing Mr. Doodnauth Singh former Attorney General as Chairman of its Board. The Board already had Sase Kowlessar and Ms. Shaddick former Ministers of the PPP Government and the President’s loyalists.

Safeco’s group of companies has raised the hopes of the President that the public purse need not be the source of guarantee to CLICO’s battered policy holders. It has argued the case and dangled the carrot that it could take over the virtually collapsed CLICO once it gets an insurance licence. This it will surely procure from the Bank of Guyana when the just recent Transfer of Functions Bill comes into operation soon.

Wait, watch and wonder! And this is the reason why as against the Commissioner of Insurance who obviously stumbled when she did not prosecute CLICO in 2007, she is by far superior to the toothless poodle Bank of Guyana will prove to be when it makes the grant to one of Safeco’s group of companies. It has all been worked out.
And finally I come to the score as to why the shooting of Ms. van Beek. Oh come on – do I need to bother you on why she was shot. I don’t think so! And since the President would exhort – “Bring the evidence!” – let us just wait a while for his investigation to clear up everything.

THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION BILL 2006 – PART 1

Part One (1) of the Bill has 6 clauses which set out the purpose of the Bill and give interpretations and definitions of terms used within the Bill so that they could be understood. If the law is to be successfully applied, it has to be understood by everyone.
Clause 4 gives the definitions of words and terms used and for example:
“document” is described as “information recorded in any form, whether printed or on tape or film or by electronic means or otherwise and includes any map, diagram, photograph, film, microfilm,, video-tape, sound recording, or machine-readable record or any record which is capable of being, produced, from a machine-readable record by means of equipment or a programme (or a combination of both) which is used for that purpose by the public authority which holds the record”.

Public Authorities that collect documents, and which will be required to make them available include to members of the public on request: the National Assembly, Courts of Law, Cabinet, Ministries, Municipalities and other local government bodies, regional health authorities, statutory bodies such as the Public Utilities Commission, Service Commissions, and public corporations.

Any member of the public shall have the right to approach one of the bodies referred to above and request information on any matter that has been, or is being addressed by them. There are certain documents that are exempted from being produced because of national security and other concerns.
Next week we will begin to examine the documents which for various reasons including, national security, cannot be made available to the public.

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