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PM responds to critics
8/20/2012
PRIME MINISTER Freundel Stuart, in responding to several criticisms from the Opposition, took the issue of CLICO head on and stated that the report on which several stories were published earlier this year, was stolen.
In a shocking revelation to the packed audience at the ruling Democratic Labour Party’s 57th Annual conference, which was held at its headquarters yesterday, the Prime Minister stated that the report was stolen and circulated unlawfully. “The Prime Minister was roundly condemned for not commenting on a report that he had not seen. And he had not seen the report because at the time that he was being condemned, the report was in unauthorised circulation because it had been stolen. I have never been a thief, self-confessed, petty or otherwise ... I sleep comfortably at night because there is no man, woman or child in Barbados or outside of Barbados, who has a secret holding for me. There is nothing in the life of Freundel Jerome Stuart of which he can be made to feel ashamed. I have chosen to live my life that way.”
Referring to the report, the Prime Minister stated that it did not include any issues of which the Government had been accused.
“I discovered that it had accused the Government of nothing, had accused the Prime Minister of nothing, has accused the Minister of Finance of nothing, had accused the late Prime Minister of nothing, and was merely an interim report, stating no conclusions about any of the matters it was investigating. But if you were hearing the debate, you would have believed that Barbados was about to implode, or explode, as a result of the contents of this stolen document in unauthorised circulation.”
The point was also made that Government was working with other countries to find the best solution to deal with the CLICO issue and remained determined to protect the policy holders and their investments. To that end, he added that Minister of Finance Chris Sinckler was hard at work advancing the Barbados approach to the challenging situation, with a view to bringing a conclusion to the matter. “Let me repeat for the record. CLICO does not now belong and has never belonged to the Government of Barbados. It is a private concern in which people in Barbados and other parts of the Caribbean invested money in various types of insurance policies. It ran into difficulties, putting those investments at risk. It is now under judicial management and because of its regional scope, Heads of Government from across the region are working to resolve these outstanding challenges in such a way as to eliminate or minimise losses to investors. My predecessor in office, the late David John Howard Thompson, the Governor of the Central Bank and I have stated publicly what we intend the Barbados approach to the problem to be.”
Aim was taken at Opposition Leader Owen Arthur, whom he stated could not be his role model. Waxing poetic about the stern words and attacks which previous DLP Leaders had faced from the Barbados Labour Party (BLP), he stated, “I do not want the endorsement of the BLP, I have the endorsement of the DLP and that is the one which matters to me.” Prime Minister Stuart was returned unopposed as DLP President. (DB)
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