Let’s get it on; pay the money

Sep 12, 2010 Features / Columnists, My Column

Many people expect to smile broadly this Christmas. They expect to recover the money they had invested in Clico (Guyana) because the courts, on a ruling by Chief Justice Ian Chang, paved the way for the liquidation of the once giant insurance company.

The company began to unravel in late 2009, coincident with the global economic crisis. The world began to hear of the woes of CL Financial, the parent company of Clico in Trinidad. The Clico (Barbados) collapsed and on the heels of that collapse we began to hear of the collapse of Clico (Bahamas).

At the time I was trying to save some money in Clico (Guyana) because of the attractive six per cent offer. Many others had done the same thing I did, because we all said that with the pace of devaluation we needed to ensure that what little we have maintain some semblance of value.

Still fresh in my memory was the businessman who committed suicide. He had a lot of money in one of the banks in the city—perhaps a few million dollars. At the time the official exchange rate was $4.35 to one US dollar. His savings were reduced to almost nothing when the government, by way of the annual budget, announced that the exchange rate had been shifted to $10 to one US dollar.

Just months earlier, I had bought a freezer from Guyana Stores for $4,000. Looking back today, I paid a lot of money for that freezer, almost US$1,000. When the budget passed and the exchange rate went up the same freezer was now worth $1,000. My pay did not move nearly as much, so the freezer would now be priced out of my reach.

It was the same with the money the man had in the bank. Whatever millions he had had been slashed by more than half in value. It was this lesson that has caused me to refuse to try to save money in a bank.

These days, the devaluation is not so drastic so when Clico came to me and told me that whatever money I saved would attract a six per cent interest I began to put a small piece every month into the Clico account. When the company began to collapse, I remember going to the administrators in Guyana and talking about my money. Two women literally swore on their mothers’ graves that the money was safe.

All this while, Glenn Lall was advising me to take whatever money I had in Clico and run. I remained stubborn and paid the penalty. There were many like me, some with countless millions. When the government moved to seize the Clico assets I said to myself, “Better late than never”. But there was a fight because some people wanted Clico to continue. It was their cash cow. The fought the shutdown every step of the way.

In comes President Bharrat Jagdeo with the announcement that no one with money in Clico would lose that money. I remember people asking him to pay even before the company was liquidated but he refused. It transpired that he was worried that if he paid out the money and things went well with Clico then he would be out of pocket, having contributed positively to the liabilities of the company.

There were people with medical insurance and they could not even get a cent. Others had car and fire insurance. They too were screwed. There were some angry people and to the credit of good Guyanese behaviour, no one did anything violent to Clico assets.

What bothers me is the fact that Clico was allowed to break all the rules. It shipped more money overseas than it should and had the nerve to admit in court that it had done some illegal things and therefore should not be liquidated.

No one has so far been prosecuted for playing fast and loose with people’s money. We are lucky that the records were not destroyed, even though some really big ones were paid when the company sold its Berbice River Bridge bonds for millions if not billions of dollars.

I am now given the right to hold President Jagdeo to his promise to pay me. I know that he has some money—almost three billion dollars. I also know that the Bank of Guyana, which has consumed the role of Commissioner of Insurance, has been entrusted to examine the accounts and to pronounce on and manage all the monies that Guyana has been able to grab from Clico.

I have said repeatedly that there are no banks in the cemetery, so any money that I should get must be given to me now. I need it. It would be nice if the payout could begin next week. I know that I would be among the first to collect because it is not much, not enough to buy a car, but enough to put food on my table.

I would have said that I would take a small piece and buy a drink for President Jagdeo to show my gratitude but the boys say that he does not drink. I may therefore buy some water coconuts and deposit them either at State House or Office of the President.

Perhaps Christmas would not be a bad time for me to collect. Then again my birthday is just a few weeks away. President Jagdeo, you could make me enjoy a really good birthday. Chief Justice Ian Chang has removed the shackles from your hands.