The Tribune

By KHRISNA RUSSELL

Tribune Chief Reporter

krussell@tribunemedia.net

NATIONAL Insurance Board Minister Brensil Rolle admitted yesterday that he did not take Nicola Virgill-Rolle seriously when she revealed in a conversation last Wednesday that she was considering resigning after more than two years as NIB’s director.

Once her decision was made official in writing over the weekend, Mr Rolle said the board sought to dissuade Mrs Virgill-Rolle, but their efforts were unsuccessful.

Mrs Virgill-Rolle’s resignation was announced yesterday in unusual fashion, with her new employer making public her new post before an official government statement was released.

She will leave NIB to become the next executive director of Lyford Cay Foundations, a release from the foundations said yesterday. The release made no mention of her tenure with NIB.

Mrs Virgill-Rolle was appointed director of NIB July 1, 2018. She declined comment when contacted yesterday.

“She indicated that she found a more stable offer,” Mr Rolle told The Tribune yesterday. “She made a commitment to go and I wished her well in her new venture.

“I’m happy for her. I’m happy she’s found something that she claims is more long lasting. She did a good job at NIB and I just wish her well at her new job.”

Mr Rolle explained how Mrs Virgil-Rolle’s resignation unfolded.

“She told me last Wednesday that she was considering it. To be quite honest I did not at that time think she was serious.

“Once she put that in writing over the weekend then I realised that yes she was serious and we sought to persuade her to stay, change her mind, but she made a commitment I guess.”

Mr Rolle told The Tribune the search for a new director is expected to begin today.

“(Prior to then) we’ve not looked out as yet. We couldn’t because like I said we were seeking to persuade her to stay actually.”

Despite Mrs Virgill-Rolle’s resignation, the minister said NIB would continue to improve with a clear road map to chart the way forward.

“We have set out a five-year strategic plan, which really sets out the footprint as to where we will go and what we need to do to make the work of NIB better and to offer the services at NIB up to the standard that we believe is necessary.

“So we have set out a plan, that’s one of the good things about her working with us because we had the opportunity to really set out a road map of where NIB should be and what we need to do to get it to where it needs to go.”

As news spread of the director’s departure, claims circulated that it was a fitting end to what is said to have been a tumultuous relationship with NIB’s board of directors.

Asked about this, the minister said: “I’ve heard that. All I say is in any relationship it’s not going to be 100 percent all the time, so I don’t know that it was tumultuous.

“The good thing about it is we have a good board and sometimes they may conflict, but there was never any time when things did not go right.”

In a statement yesterday, the foundations said they were pleased to welcome Mrs Virgill-Rolle.

Felicity Humblestone, the Lyford Cay Foundations’ current executive director, will end her tenure there on December 31, 2020.

Dr Virgill-Rolle is a former director of economic development and planning in the Office of the Prime Minister, where she was responsible for the creation of the country’s National Development Plan, the Sustainable Nassau Plan, Andros Masterplan and for the creation of an Over-the-Hill Revitalisation Strategy.

She is also a former director of financial services, where she oversaw the development and implementation of a 10-year Financial Services Strategic Vision for the country.

She is also a former economic attaché of The Bahamas’ Embassy in Washington, DC, and a former deputy manager for policy at the Central Bank of The Bahamas.