The Tribune

BISHOP Simeon Hall is urging Attorney General John Delaney to bring the CLICO matter before the courts so those left "waylaid" by the bankrupt insurance company can get some relief. In December, Craig Gomez, the Baker, Tilly, Gomez accountant, made his ninth report to the Supreme Court revealing investors still face an approximate $18.4 million solvency deficiency. In his letter to the Attorney General, Bishop Hall said he's praying Mr Delaney will use his office to help the matter to reach some conclusion. Bishop Hall said he's amazed how "some cases in our system can be fast-tracked through our courts while others take an eternity". More than 30,000 clients, including himself, have been "great disadvantaged by this financial debacle," Bishop Hall said. "It is my understanding that the matter is bogged down in our courts. "I am also informed that the matter of the $30 million gratuity which the Bahamas government so graciously posted is before you. If this is so, I humbly ask that you expedite this matter so that all who have been waylaid by this might have resolution." Last year Bishop Hall, a well known pastor and social activist, revealed his plans for retirement had to be postponed for two years as a result of financial challenges stemming from the CLICO collapse. "I've been preaching for 45 years. I'd hoped to retire two years ago but I was a part of the CLICO plan. [New Covenant Baptist Church] had an annuity there, a retirement financial plan, but that debacle threw my retirement off," he said. "I can only imagine other persons who have been affected by that incident who are perhaps in awkward positions. As a pastor, I had something to fall back on. What about those who had no recourse? "I can only imagine the elderly that have been affected by that. It seems that both governments, both political parties, fell asleep at the wheel."