By Prior Beharry
MINISTER of Finance Colm Imbert was not wrong in appointing businessman Patrick Ferreira as chairman of the National Insurance Board of Trinidad and Tobago (NIB).
This is according to a ruling by Justice Jacqueline Wilson in the Port of Spain High Court on Monday.
In a release, the Ministry of Finance stated that in March 2022, Opposition activist Ravi Balgobin Maharaj filed a lawsuit Imbert over his decision to appoint Ferreira as chairman of NIB.
Maharaj’s lawyers led by Anand Ramlogan, SC, and including UNC Senator Jayanti Lutchmedial, claimed that Imbert’s decision on Ferreira’s appointment, made in January 2022 was illegal, null and void on the ground that Ferreira was not independent of the groups that comprise the NIB, namely government, business and labour.
They argued that Ferreira, by virtue of his past and current associations with business and government, cannot be said to be an individual who possesses the key characteristics contemplated by the National Insurance Act, and he was therefore not capable of holding the office of Chairman.
In his defence, Imbert pointed out that the National Insurance Act made it clear that while the Board shall act in accordance with the general policy directions of the Government given by the Minister, when exercising and performing its functions, powers and duties the Board shall be subject to the control or direction of no other person or authority.
The release stated, “Minister Imbert also pointed out that eight previous Chairmen of the NIB had significant business interests, including two appointments of Chairman of NIB made by former UNC Governments, namely Edward Bayley who was made Chairman in 1996, while being a director of Maritime Life (Caribbean) Limited and Executive Director of the Maritime Financial Group, which was doing business with the Government at the time, and again in 2013, with the appointment of Adrian Bharath, a director of Trinre and Managing Director of AMB Corporate Finance Limited, a company involved in corporate finance and financial consultancy services.”
The release noted that Ferreira will continue as to act as chairman until the expiration of his term in office.
