CARICOM General Insurance Company Inc. took its range of services Friday to West  Berbice with the opening of an office at D’Edward Village, one of a number of new locations to be established in an ongoing expansion programme.

The new branch is located near the junction of the highway and the roads leading to the Berbice River Bridge, and the symbolic ribbon was cut by Company President, Mr. Anthony Soares, in the presence of senior staffers from the company’s Head Office, staffers of the new entity, and invitees during a brief ceremony.

Among officials present were Mr. Chaitram Jattan, Company Treasurer; Ms. Sita Ramsuhai, Manager, Fire Insurance Services; Ms. Julieann  Fraser, Branch Manager, Berbice;  Mr. Jhadoo Ganga, Information Technology Manager; and Ms. Alechia Amos, Manager.

The office will be fully opened for business as of Tuesday. During the opening ceremony, Soares disclosed that the office will be offering all the insurance services that are available to customers generally, and some that are specific to the company.

These services will include motor insurance; fire insurance for houses and businesses ;  bid bonds or contractor’s insurance; advance mobilization bonds; marine insurance for vessels and cargo; and all forms of life insurance.

He said that the location of the new office had been deliberately chosen since it was at a point where vehicles from East Berbice, West Berbice and Georgetown cross paths. “This spot we translated as a convenient location for customers from all these areas to drop in and get their insurance policies without having to go out of their way…  out of their normal routes to do so,” Soares said.

The West Berbice office, he said, will  be fully automated , fully computerized and  will be Online  with the  Central Office and  other Branch Offices for smooth and fast flow of communication, and that  members of the public need not only drop in at the office to buy  policies, but are free  to seek consultation and advice on the various categories of services the company has brought to West Berbice.

Soares said the West Berbice office was a manifestation of the company’s thrust to establish the availability of its services in new geographic areas. “This office is part of  our expansion drive; our aim is to establish offices in all the towns and all the places where insurance services are  needed ,” he said.

In this aggressive expansion drive, he said, the company is currently eyeing Rose Hall Town in East Berbice as the site for its next office. It has already  located a piece of land at Rose Hall  and the  next step will be  the erection of a building on that spot for a branch for that town, he said.

Soares promised that the office at West  Berbice will not only serve customers, but will also give back to the community by supporting any venture that will be of benefit to those in its environs.