The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

A well-known businessman yesterday urged the Prime Minister to “be decisive” and not wait for forensic investigations to sort out “the bloody mess” at the National Insurance Board (NIB), adding that Algernon Cargill appeared to have “done a good job” enforcing the rules.

Emphasising that he was speaking as an outsider, and had no knowledge about whether the allegations flying between the NIB director and chairman Gregory Moss were true, Dionisio D’Aguilar agreed that the affair was “something to be concerned about” for ordinary Bahamians.

Noting that Mr Cargill’s suspension (temporarily at least) could hamper NIB’s oversight of its investments, the Superwash president said the “perception” was that the director had performed well in increasing contribution income and pursuing delinquent companies.

“Obviously it’s a mess now, and I think the Prime Minister needs to be decisive and needs to sort this out,” the former Chamber of Commerce president told Tribune Business.

“The way he’s talking with all these investigations, that’s going to take far too long to solve these problems. The message it sends to the staff, the message it sends to the public, is: ‘It’s chaos’.

“The managing director is suing the chairman, the chairman is suing the managing director, and the fact that letter was leaked is unconscionable.”

Mr D’Aguilar said his personal impression, as an outsider looking in at NIB, was that Mr Cargill had “largely done a fairly good job”.

Contribution income levels had increased during his watch, aided by increases in both rates and the insurable wage ceiling, and the director had “certainly sent a message that if you don’t pay there will be consequences”.

That was a reference to the increased level of prosecutions of companies, employers and the self-employed for being delinquent in NIB contribution payments.

“He’s enforced the rules, which most civil servants never do, and that’s probably due to his [Mr Cargill’s] private sector background,” Mr D’Aguilar said.

“Financially, he’s done a fairly good job at NIB in sending a message that you can’t duck these payments like in the past. It’s important to pay.

“I sometimes don’t support his zealousness, but sometimes you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do. He’s been really focused on getting people to pay what they’re supposed to pay, and you can’t fault that.”

Mr D’Aguilar said the ‘power struggle’ between Messrs Cargill and Moss “could have been dealt with in much more professional manner” internally at NIB, rather than leaks to the media and current litigation where all parties were either suing - or threatening to sue.

The result, Mr D’Aguilar told Tribune Business, was “a bloody mess”. Noting that Mr Cargill had served on numerous company Boards as a means to safeguard NIB’s investments in them, he added that the absence - temporarily at least - of any such oversight was “something to be concerned about”.

While the Board and its various committees, especially the Investment Committee, provided enough infrastructure to safeguard NIB’s benefit payouts and day-to-day operations, the current absence of a director would impact how NIB was run.

“The managing director of any organisation sets the mood and dictates the philosophy under which the organisation is run,” Mr D’Aguilar said.

“If you have a managing director who is a stickler for the rules, and makes sure things get done and ensures the organisation is properly organised and run, it sends a message to the staff that they have to make this work; it’s got to be done right.

“In the civil service there are people who want to bend the rules, be a little slack, not run things as they should. If his [Mr Cargill’s] philosophy was to run the organisation as it was supposed to be run, there will be consequences to his departure.”