THE CLICO DEBACLE: PRESIDENT JAGDEO SHOULD STRIVE TO BE CHAMPION OF THE PEOPLE

May 30, 2010 APNU Column, Features / Columnists

---

The PPP/C Administration continues to remain silent on how it will honour its guarantee to ensure that no policyholder or depositor of CLICO ( Guyana ) suffers any loss. It was the PPP/C Government that moved to the Guyana High Court to have a Judicial Manager appointed and subsequently to have the Company liquidated.

Millions of policyholders’ funds are being spent daily to pay the Judicial Manager and the few staff retained by her.

Unconfirmed reports indicate that the Judicial Manager receives over one million dollars per month and that a monthly cost of another million dollars is being incurred to pay other staff.

This means that more than twenty four million dollars of policyholders’ funds have been spent since the Court appointed a Judicial Manager, while policyholders and depositors have not seen a cent of their hard-earned money.

Surely, this situation cannot be allowed to continue. The Government has an obligation to honour its commitment and not hide behind the excuse of on-going Court proceedings.WHY NO INVESTIGATION?

It is also the PPP/C Administration that has resisted every call to have an investigation. They have refused to hold an inquiry into possible acts of malfeasance, despite the numerous rumors about the misuse of money from that Company just prior to its financial difficulty.

For example, there were reports that large sums of money from CLICO (Guyana ) and CLICO ( Suriname ) were paid to a certain Director of CLICO in her own name and that these funds, mysteriously, were not deposited in any account of CLICO in the Bahamas .

In fact, the allegations suggest that those funds were banked in Miami and Trinidad and Tobago , and that the Officer, who was subsequently fired by the Trinidad Government after they took over operations, purchased substantial real estate in Barbados .

THE BAHAMAS LIQUIDATOR

The news, (published two weeks ago), that the Liquidator of CLICO (Bahamas) has rejected almost US$34 million worth of claims made against the insolvent insurer by its affiliate in Guyana and his report should have been a wake –up call to the Jagdeo regime.

He stated categorically that his preliminary view was that the premiums received by Guyana and Suriname were never paid to [CLICO Bahamas] and that the funds were remitted directly to a bank account held in the name of [CLICO Bahamas] at Ocean Bank, Miami, Florida, and to another account held by the company in Trinidad.

Any responsible Administration would have considered such a report as a smoking gun and vigorously commenced, albeit belatedly, an urgent investigation.

At minimum, one would have expected to hear that the Government had dispatched a team to the Bahamas to obtain as much information as possible.

The unusual inaction and silence by the PPP/C, therefore, leaves room for serious speculation. Is there more in the mortar than the pestle? Surely, the people of Guyana ought to know.

MARIA VAN BEEK

Meanwhile, the Government appears satisfied with retaining a Judicial Manager who was in charge of the Company in circumstances where it is uncertain who were the persons involved in any possible irregularities at that Company. As the dust settles, the attempted assassination of the Commissioner of Insurance, Ms. Maria van Beek, may not be so difficult to understand.

Was there fear of her uncovering some of these matters and to whom the trail would have led? What other explanation can be offered for the PPP’s resistance to having an investigation?

REFUSAL OF PARLIAMENTARY INQUIRY

On February 26, 2009, the Leader of the Opposition moved a Motion for the adjournment of the National Assembly to discuss a matter of urgent public business, to wit, the debacle at CLICO. The Speaker disallowed that Motion, on the grounds that the matter was before the courts.

In a Press Statement on Friday, April 24, 2009, the PNCR renewed its call on the government to hold an urgent and impartial inquiry into the CLICO matters, including the disbursement of the funds obtained from the sale of the Bonds held by CLICO in the Berbice River Bridge Company.

The call was again ignored and many questions remain unanswered while the Government appears to be more complicit rather than behaving as the guardian of the interest of Guyanese. These matters apart, Guyanese are more concerned now about when and how they will receive their monies from CLICO as guaranteed by the Government.

PARLIAMENTARY GUARANTEE

From the commencement of this debacle, President Jagdeo repeatedly assured the thousands of policyholders including, Guyanese workers, reliant on the NIS and other pension schemes, that not a single cent would have been lost.

The PNCR, accustomed to the unreliability of the PPP/C to honour promises, took the issue to Parliament and in a Motion, moved by Opposition Leader, Mr. Robert Corbin, the National Assembly endorsed the guarantee made by the Government. Finance Minister, Dr. Ashni Singh, was very meticulous in the wording of the final version of the Motion before the PPP/C finally supported and voted for the amended Motion.

WHEN WILL POLICY HOLDERS BE PAID?

Since then, the government has reported receiving millions of dollars from several sources to pay the money due to policyholders, including, US$15M from the Caricom Petroleum Fund.

The Nation was also informed that an account had been established at the Bank of Guyana. The only question that remained unanswered was when, how and in what manner the guarantee would be honoured.

Today, affected persons are still unaware of the arrangements, timing and procedures that would be used to honour the Government’s guarantee. The thousands of workers whose pension funds are in jeopardy, the thousands who invested their life savings and the thousands of policyholders and depositors whose millions are at stake also have a right to know.

The refusal to investigate means that the Jagdeo Administration must take full responsibility. The Government guarantee must be honoured without further procrastination.

In all the circumstances, the time has come for the affected persons to meet and discuss a common strategy to ensure President Jagdeo and the PPP/C Administration honour their commitment.

President Jagdeo, instead of wasting taxpayers’ money celebrating Champion of the Earth would earn more accolades if he strives to be, indeed, a Champion of the interests of the Policyholders and Depositors of CLICO ( Guyana ).

---

---