And in separate interviews with Stabroek Business both PSC Chairman Captain Gerry Gouveia and GCCI President Chandradat Chintamani have said that they believe that the statement issued by the GMSA Board of Directors earlier this week amounted to a call to government to take steps to ensure that no more time is lost in bringing a measure of relief to the hundreds of policyholders and investors who incurred losses in the wake of the collapse of CLICO.
“In many cases the losses were not only significant but they amounted to most, in some cases all of the savings of investors. What the GMSA is saying is that there are cases in which people can no longer afford to live on assurances. Although it does not say so directly the statement is an appeal to government for help to bring closure to the matter as early as possible,” Chintamani told Stabroek Business.
According to Chintamani the pointed public call by the GMSA for the hastening of the formal process of liquidating the ill-fated company was “inevitable” given what he said were the understandable “pressures and uncertainties” being faced by victims of the region-wide debacle. “The problem is that the legal processes and procedures associated with the liquidation exercise are likely to take time and the release by the GMSA has to be seen in the context of the uncertainties that are bound to arise among people whose pensions are locked into the CLICO disaster and who are concerned about the delay,” Chintamani said. He said that he was aware that apart from the individual losses that resulted from the collapse of CLICO, several local companies with CLICO pension schemes continue to grow increasingly concerned over the delay that attends the formal liquidation process. “This is an issue that has to do with the personal welfare of people, many of whom are either retired or are on the verge of retirement. The savings that are now no longer accessible to them represented, in some cases, protection against destitution in their old age. The anxiety among both companies and businesses is entirely understand-able and a stage has been reached where official initiatives to allay their fears should kick in,” Chintamani added.
Meanwhile Gouveia told Stabroek Business that he shared the view expressed by the GCCI President that the GMSA statement was intended to serve as a reminder to government that the CLICO issue remained outstanding. “Undoubtedly, it is the case that the GMSA Board of Directors seeks to ensure that the issue remains on the national front burner and, moreover, that it is expedited,” Gouveia said. The PSC Chairman said that he expected that some members of the umbrella body “and even some members of the Board of Directors” may have “direct concerns” over the issue given the fact that companies with which they are associated may have had investment arrangements with CLICO that have implications for pension schemes.
While the GMSA statement is not specific with regard to either the nature of the responses that they anticipate or the particular agencies from which they expect responses it calls on “the responsible officers and functionaries in the various agencies and institutions to pursue whatever course is necessary to resolve the issue and to bring an end to the anxiety being experienced by those who deserve much better at this stage of their lives.”
Lead player
Asked whether he felt that the GMSA was now looking to the government to be the lead player in the resolution of the issue, Gouveia said that he believed that the tone of the statement suggested that this was the case. “The position of the GMSA is entirely understandable. The question is whether the statement can trigger any kind of action that can cause the legal process associated with the liquidation of CLICO to be expedited in order that restitution can be made to investors and policyholders,” he said.
Asked whether he believed that government should consider stepping in to use public funds to make restitution in particular for deserving cases until the liquidation matter is settled, Gouveia said that he felt that contemplation of such a course of action “could raise even more difficulties than it resolves.” He said that he believed that a decision to utilize taxpayers’ money in that fashion was bound to give rise to public controversy. ‘In addition to that there is of course the awfully complex issue of arriving at a determination as to what you describe as the most deserving cases. “
In the wake of the collapse of CLICO President Bharrat Jagdeo had moved to assure investors and policyholders that government would put mechanisms in place to protect their investments.
Chintamani told Stabroek Business that he too believed that “determined efforts on the part of the government to do what it can to hasten the judicial process” was the way forward.. “Clearly, the court process must now take account of the need to address the immediate concerns of those people whose circumstances do not allow them to wait the length of time that it would customarily take to expedite a matter of this nature,” Chintamani said.
Earlier this week a senior official of a local private sector entity whose employees’ pension funds were invested with CLICO told Stabroek Business that the protracted hiatus in the process of “fully and finally resolving the issue” has become “a matter of deep concern both to management and employees.” According to the official the greatest concern is being shown by employees “who are approaching retirement and who are looking forward to reaping the returns from their investments in their retirement years.” The official said that he believed that the timing of the GMSA statement is intended to indicate to government that policyholders and investors “are holding them to their promise.”
The GMSA’s release signals the manufacturing umbrella body’s concerns over “the time required by the judicial system to have the situation resolved fairly” and what it says is “the unnecessary suffering being caused by the unavailability of health insurance, motor insurance and pension” during the period that the matter remains under legal consideration. “Suffering employees now have to find out-of-pocket monies for medical attention and diabetic and hypertensive patients now have to pay, suffer or attend the public health facilities,” the GMSA statement added.
