Gibson: NIB board will carry on

As of Friday, January 4, 2013

Shane Gibson

By KHRISNA VIRGIL

Tribune Staff Reporter

kvirgil@tribunemedia.net

NIB MINISTER Shane Gibson yesterday insisted that the board of the nation’s social security net will carry on with its duties in the absence of a chairman.

While there is no clear indication of whether the government has a replacement lined up for Gregory Moss, Mr Gibson said there are enough persons in place to keep the ball rolling.

“What I am saying,” Mr Gibson said, “is you have many statutory boards in government and if a statutory board is appointed and a member of the board resigns the board carries on.

“I mean, in most cases – for instance in Cabinet – I think the majority at least 10 or 11 persons make up a forum and so every statutory board has the minimum amount of persons required to carry on the business.”

In addition, Mr Gibson said he was not at all embarrassed by Mr Moss’ comments which were posted on Facebook claiming that the PLP did not do enough to defend him in the ongoing NIB debacle.

Mr Moss further claimed he was still in possession of a board issued credit card despite Prime Minister Perry Christie’s assertion that he was not.

Mr Gibson said yesterday outside the Churchill Building that both Mr Moss’ and NIB director Algernon Cargill’s cards, with credit limits of $25,000, had been cancelled.

“I wouldn’t say (I was) embarrassed, but it is something I thought was inappropriate.

“The credit cards were at a limit of $25,000. Like Greg Moss said, he didn’t ask for the credit card.

“When he was appointed chairman in the package he received from the director he said he actually received the credit card. So he didn’t instruct the director to give him the card.”

Meanwhile, there is still an audit of NIB underway. A report is expected in the coming weeks.

Mr Gibson said it is hard to tell if Mr Moss would still co-operate with auditors at this point.

“It is anticipated that it will be submitted before the 15th of this month, by next weekend it is anticipated that it should be submitted. I think they still have to interview Mr Moss, they still have to interview Mr Cargill, and one or two other persons,” Mr Gibson said.

John 11 years, 11 months ago

A NATIONAL DISGRACE! to descrbe what is going on wih NIB. Over the last several years they have prosecuted small, struggling Bahamian busness to the bone. Some went to jail and others went out of business, NOW only to find tha they been trifleing and playing doll house with the people's money. Now its time to prosecute their backsides straight to jail!

ucargill 11 years, 11 months ago

    With all due respect to Mr Gibson, it is fundamentally impossible for Gregory Moss to receive an NIB credit card when he was appointed chairman in "the package" he received from my brother. Based on my experience with receiving and distributing corporate credit cards, the issuance of all corporate credit cards is based on specific information from the applicant; and like every applicant, Mr Moss provided documents and information – all done weeks after he began his tenure with NIB. It is also patently obvious that Mr Gibson is not aware that the world renowned financial system of the Bahamas requires Mr Moss to complete an application, provide identification and any other supporting documentation before a $25,000 credit card is issued. With this requirement, Mr Moss could not have received the credit card as part of a ‘welcome to NIB' package. Therefore, my brother did not  give any credit card to Moss when he joined the Board.
      What is abundantly clear is that Mr Gibson needs to actually look at this welcome package he references in the interview before he mentions this package to exonerate Mr Moss in this paltry manner. Welcome packages have information about the company, policies and procedures and a check-off sheet with signature to document the contents. Like Perry Christie who has distanced himself from mis-stating the facts, Mr Gibson would serve himself well to also distance himself from statements that clearly show his lack of awareness of the extent to which Gregory Moss would go to flimsily elevate himself above the average Bahamian. 
Mr Gibson’s leadership of NIB is coming into question with unsubstantiated statements about my brother. What else has Moss done that Mr Gibson is covering up or validating? With Patrick Davis - a Supreme Court convicted embezzler - on the Board, it is clear to me that Mr Gibson made little effort to ensure that the composition of the Board reflects the high integrity needed to manage $1.6 billion. Mr Davis was brought to the Board by Gregory Moss and is still at NIB today. Rather than inform Perry Christie with truth about the credit cards, Mr Gibson admitted that he lied to the Prime Minister by stating that the card was not in Moss’ possession. What other lies is Mr Gibson spewing? Has he ever fast-tracked immigration forms for celebrities? Does he have receipts for all work done to his house?

ucargill 11 years, 11 months ago

In politics, it is critical to have unity and speak with one voice. This confusion at NIB began when Gregory Moss maligned my brother’s character/reputation and somehow 22 pages of unsubstantiated allegations in a letter from Moss to Gibson were leaked to the public. This document is the catalyst for what we have today. To really get to the truth about NIB, this forensic audit (who is the auditor anyway?) needs to include the period of my brother’s tenure while simultaneously auditing transactions before (under Shane Gibson’s leadership) and after my brother's tenure. That is how one pursues truth and justice for the public trust. Only then can the public be confident that the truth is coming from Shane Gibson’s lips. Grace and peace, Rev Ursula Cargill, Ph.D.

       Where were you when fingers were being pointed at my brother? Your feign attempts at altruism and feeble efforts at taking the high road are shameful and disappointing. Silence is not an option when an injustice is perpetuated by those in power, especially when this abuse of power affects the Bahamian public who have been silenced and marginalized for far too long. Silence is not an option when $1.6 billion in National Insurance revenue is controlled by those who historically have demonstrated a penchant for self-interest over national interest. And, silence is not an option when someone attacks my brother. With leaders who fail to embrace the advantages of fiscal transparency, and with a system of government that has no opportunity for open public disclosure of expenditures, $1.6 billion can quickly evolve to a $100 million deficit. 
       For the record, somehow when my brother was brought into National Insurance, there had been a deficit of approximately $100 million. Somehow, there is now a convicted embezzler on the National Insurance board who was placed on the Board by Gregory Moss and who voted in the approval of Moss’ misappropriation of $15,000 for a heart patient in Doctor’s Hospital. Somehow in these trying times, days after my brother was maligned and then suspended, a dilapidated/condemned building owned by Tiger Finlayson was purchased by National Insurance for $15 million. How deep is the applicant pool in the Bahamas when anyone who has a history of managing a deficit or mismanaging funds becomes a leader in a $1.6 billion enterprise? In my thinking, track record is a predictor of future performance. I pray I am wrong.
     In this time and age, actions speak louder than words. After my brother is made whole and also ennobled in his quest to continuously improve the National Insurance system, I will be the first person to sing the praises of Shane Gibson and anyone else who has the courage to do the right thing. Until then, I will be loyal to God, and then my brother – above all else. To thine own self be true. Who are you, John? As you can see, I am not hiding behind a pseudonym. I am not waiting in the cut for a crumb from anyone’s table. By grace, I have been blessed and through grace, I have been given the courage to now be completely engaged in thwarting this character assassination of my brother. You come for my brother and he will comply with the law because that is the cloth from which he is cut. Me…I have nothing to lose. Grace and peace. Rev Ursula Cargill, Ph.D. ucargill@hotmail.com

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