By Sue-Ann Wayow
OPPOSITION LEADER Kamla Persad-Bissessar will soon be sending a pre-action protocol letter to Finance Minister Colm Imbert requesting the immediate termination of Patrick Ferreira as Chairman of the National Insurance Board (NIB).
On Monday night she said, “This illegally appointed chairman must go. He cannot oversee your taxpayers’ dollars. He cannot remain there.”
Persad-Bissessar speaking during the United National Congress (UNC) virtual report raised the issue of Ferreira being appointed as chairman since January to what is supposed to be an independent identity.
Persad-Bissessar said, “The law tells us very clearly, in appointing this new chairman, the NIB by law is required to follow this rule: to select a person who, in the opinion of the minister, is independent of the government, business and labour.”
The opposition leader raised issues from 2011 concerning Ferreira asking Imbert to answer why was Ferreira still selected for the key position overseeing $31 billion in assets especially as he was also a businessman involved with business groups and therefore neither independent of government nor business.
And she also questioned Imbert’s relationship or friendship with Ferreira who would have been aware of previous appointments and involvements and yet still allowed him to be selected as chairman.
“Before he was appointed to the NIB, he served on several boards as a government nominee. He sat on all the boards as representative of PNM government, can he say he is independent of the Government now?”
She said, “He was appointed in 2017 by this government as a government nominee.”
Addressing Ferreira she asked, “How can you now in 2021, just before you were appointed right up coming down to when you were appointed recently, you were the government representative, what changed you?”
She added that NIB executive director Naila Persad-Poliah said that no legal advice was sought before appointing Ferreira.
