I AM A CLICO policyholder and was present at the meeting held at the National Cultural Centre on Thursday with the President and other officials. That meeting was welcomed by everyone who has a policy in CLICO and was worried about their money. It was a great burden lifted off our chests to hear we will get our money back. I must make mention of a very disturbing part of the meeting. An accountant with a very questionable character and with political motives came in and sought to create trouble. Heaven knows what the man’s intentions were, but the President told him to get outside and do his talking there. I don’t give the President wrong. Why did he have to be there? Thursday’s meeting was a meeting for small people who worked hard for their money. It made a difference to us if we lose it. That individual, on the other hand, is rich and living the high-life, so he doesn’t care, which is why he could say and do things without concern of how it might affect us the common folks. It brings into mind what he did with Globe Trust. He didn’t for once consider that if the entity had been liquidated, over 70 per cent of the depositors would have gotten their money. And he says he cares about poor people! Is that what he was hoping for CLICO’s policyholders? We were there for our money, and the last thing we needed was for some questionable character to come and upset that for us. But not only the Globe Trust situation, a litigation has been brought against the individual over unethical dealings over the sale of a hotel. And then there are always questions about his dealings in another Caribbean country.
Such a man was certainly not welcome among us! Not to jeopardize our money. So putting him out was the right thing to do.
Finally, why shouldn’t government and policyholders have met? Does this man know that it is the common people who were affected and we want to hear from the authorities about our money? If he has questions, he needs to direct them to the liquidator.  That accountant doesn’t care about us, the people. He is concerned only about pushing his political agenda. Policyholders were not in the mood for him, which is why we booed him out of the auditorium.