By DENISE MAYCOCK
Tribune Staff Reporter
PRIME Minister Philip Davis insisted his administration has not abandoned CLICO policyholders.
He commented after St Barnabas MP Shanendon Cartwright noted in the House of Assembly that the government did not allocate funding for policyholders in the budget.
Mr Cartwright said the 10,000 policyholders feel abandoned.
Victims of the CLICO collapse have been waiting more than 15 years for the matter to be resolved.
The Tribune understands they last received a payout from the government almost two years ago.
The last Christie administration committed the government to a plan to pay in full all surrendered life insurance policies, death benefits, medical claims, and staff pensions.
Tribune Business has reported that around $10m must be paid out to hundreds who surrendered their policies.
CLICO (Bahamas) liquidator has been given the authority to accept a $110.827m settlement that could fully repay all debts owed to policyholders, creditors, and the government.
Chief Justice Sir Ian Winder gave Craig A ‘Tony’ Gomez, the Baker Tilly Gomez accountant and principal, the go-ahead to accept the sum offered by liquidators for its Trinidad-based parent, CL Financial.
Mr Davis said yesterday that the government is aware of the settlement between CLICO's liquidators and Trinidad authorities to make policyholders whole and wants to sit with the liquidator to resolve the matter.
He said officials must determine what the government has paid out because it has to get a share from the settlement and ensure policyholders get what they are owed.
"That is why knowing that the funds are available from the rightful source, there is no need for us to budget for it," he said.
Mr Cartwright asked why the government does not step in to fill the gap in the meantime, but Mr Davis said officials believe the funds are readily available.
Comments
ExposedU2C 5 months, 3 weeks ago
The abandoned CLICO policyholders have every reason to believe corrupt Davis is lying as usual. After all, many so called 'prominent' Bahamian families long ago received 100 cents on the dollar of the investments they had in high yielding annuities issued by the CL/CLICO group of companies. These families include the Butler family, the Maynard family, the Turnquest family, and so on.
The politically connected wealthy long ago recovered 100 cents on the dollar of their major claims in the liquidation process, leaving thousands of screwed policyholders holding nothing but an empty bag. Whatever remained on the CL/CLICO carcass has since been picked clean by the liquidators and their lawyers. There's nothing of any significance left and lying Davis knows it.
ExposedU2C 5 months, 3 weeks ago
And what about all of those City Meat Market pensioners that the PLP government allowed to be financially slaughtered by Tiger Finlayson and his son Mark? Are they going to get their money too Mr. Davis?!!
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