-source says more decisive gov’t role being sought

Growing fears among major local private sector entities that employee  savings currently frozen in multi-million dollar pension schemes that were managed by the ill-fated regional investment and insurance giant CLICO may be inaccessible in the immediate future are likely to trigger more “pressure” from private sector umbrella bodies for a hastening of the legal procedures towards the winding up of the company.

This is according to a well-placed business executive associated with the issuance of last week’s statement by the Guyana Manufacturing and Services Association (GMSA) calling for the liquidation process to be expedited.

“The issue that is now beginning to arise is the very real likelihood that a number of private sector employees whose savings are now locked in with CLICO are at risk of having to go into retirement without being able to draw down on those investments. The other issue, of course, is that since access to those monies is dependent on the court-driven liquidation process there is really no telling when that situation will change,” the source said.

Last week the heads of the major private sector umbrella organizations publicly backed a call by the GMSA for a hastening of the liquidation process, alluding to what it says are concerns, “particularly with the most vulnerable group, the employees who have reached retirement age but who are unable to receive the benefits which they have earned.”  The source told Stabroek Business that large companies with pension funds invested with CLICO have begun to come under “real and persistent pressure” from employees whom he says “have now become totally preoccupied with concerns over the fate of their savings.”

This newspaper has learnt that while government is reportedly set to honour its commitment to restore the savings of the victims of the collapse, legal moves may have been made by parties with a vested interest in CLICO who may still be seeking ways of salvaging at least part of the local outfit to block the liquidation process. The source told Stabroek Business that he had learnt that legal moves designed to stall the liquidation process may have been made in December last year. “If indeed that is the case, it would obviously mean that what appears to be a delaying mechanism has been triggered. Where there is no legal liquidation process, the state cannot proceed with its commitment to restore those funds to pensioners and other categories of investors,” the source said.

And according to the source the issue that now arises is one of “time.” He said that while he believed that the concerns of the pensioners and other investors will eventually be addressed “We have to bear in mind that many of these people really cannot afford to wait. They need the money now.”

Meanwhile, Stabroek Business has learnt that local companies with funds invested with CLICO are also facing complaints from employees over problems associated with the unavailability of payment of medical expenses under their health insurance plans. Companies are reportedly faced with requests from employees for loans and advances to meet medical expenses which would otherwise have been met under their health insurance plans. The source named one major company that is said to be pushing for the matter to receive “more serious official attention.”

Meanwhile, Stabroek Business has learnt that some private sector officials may be contemplating the creation of a permanent lobby group designed to hasten the liquidation process. The source told this newspaper that the individuals behind the move to create a “more formal mechanism” to address the CLICO liquidation issue include business executives whose companies are now coming under increasing pressure from employees to respond to concerns relating to their pension funds and health insurance schemes. “What this development suggests is that concerns over pension funds and insurance schemes are beginning to manifest themselves in the form of more organized employee representation and that it may well be beginning to distract attention from, perhaps even disrupt the normal operations of those entities,” the source said.

Asked whether he supported the view expressed by the Heads of the Private Sector Commission and the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) that last week’s GMSA statement was directed at the government, the source said that he believed that this was the case. He said that while the GMSA did not wish to appear to be blaming government for what he said “was a humanitarian situation,”  it was obvious that they were looking to government to play a critical role in the hastening of the liquidation process.