Latest update April 23rd, 2024 12:59 AM
Mar 03, 2009 News
…also seeks guarantee for NIS beneficiaries
By Gary Eleazar
The People’s National Congress Reform yesterday made good on its promise to have the Colonial Life Insurance, CLICO (Guyana), debacle debated in the highest forum in the land, the National Assembly.
According to the motion moved by the party leader Robert Corbin and seconded by the party’s Shadow Finance Minister, Winston Murray, the National Assembly must call upon the government to take all necessary steps to provide a guarantee that there will be no financial loss to any policyholder of CLICO (Guyana).
The Motion is also seeking to have the government give an unequivocal guarantee to all contributors and beneficiaries of the National Insurance Scheme that there would be no consequential loss in benefits to them as a result of the present problems at CLICO (Guyana), and that the Government and not contributors will make good in any shortfall.
The party is also seeking to have the Government of Guyana emulate the Government of Trinidad and Tobago and take over the operations of CLICO (Guyana) rather than pursue its liquidation strategy.
The motion is also seeking to have the National Assembly establish a Committee to monitor the developments at CLICO (Guyana) and other financial institutions to keep the National Assembly updated on developments in the context of the global economic crisis.
The objectives of the party’s motion comes on the back of the order appointing a Judicial Manager to manage the affairs of CLICO (Guyana), as well as the fact that the Commissioner of Insurance is seeking liquidation of CLICO (Guyana) as an ultimate remedy.
It was also pointed out in the motion that the 2007 National Insurance Scheme (NIS) Annual Report states that the entity had $5.1 billion invested in annuities in CLICO (Guyana), and the Chairman of the NIS Board had informed the public that the amount is now approximately $6.1B which is really invested in CLICO (Bahamas).
The motion also pointed out that the President of Guyana, in a press briefing on February 5, had provided a level of comfort to the nation by stating that the situation at CLICO (Guyana) was not serious, and that there was no major cause for concern by policyholders.
It added also that “information now available indicates that both the Government and the Commissioner of Insurance were aware of and/or facilitated the sale of nearly $2B of the Berbice River Bridge Bonds to the New Building Society (NBS), which were being used to make payments to a number of persons who were making sizeable withdrawals of deposits or surrendering their policies.”
According to the PNCR, the Commissioner of Insurance is fully empowered under the Insurance Act 1998 and obligated to protect policyholders, and the Act empowered the Minister of Finance to give general directions to the Commissioner of Insurance.
The party added that “thousands of depositors and policyholders of CLICO (Guyana) who responded to assurances given by the Government and/or were unaware of the precarious financial position of CLICO (Guyana) now face substantial losses if the company is liquidated.”
The PNCR also accused Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh of failing the nation, in that he did not utilise the opportunity provided under ‘Statement by Ministers’ to inform the National Assembly on Thursday February 26 of serious developments at CLICO (Guyana), despite the fact that he was aware “or ought to have been aware” that the High Court, before 11:00 am on the said day, had appointed a Judicial Manager for CLICO (Guyana).
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