By Sue-Ann Wayow
THE Government has breached the National Insurance Board (NIB) Act by appointing businessman Patrick Ferreira as chairman of the National Insurance Board of Trinidad and Tobago (NIB).
The allegation was made by Opposition Member of Parliament for Oropouche West.
Tancoo on Sunday at the Opposition’s press conference referred to an article published in the Sunday Guardian that disclosed that government nominee Patrick Ferreira was appointed NIB’s chairman.
This occurred even though the law states the chair must be an independent appointee, the Opposition MP stated.
Tancoo singled out Finance Minister Colm Imbert during his presentation.
He said, “Minister of Finance Colm Imbert who knows the law, who understands the law and, therefore, understands the breach he has facilitated, within days, this gentleman (Ferreira) has moved from being a government-appointed director to being somebody in the words of the legislation, independent, in the opinion of the minister, of influence, independent of the government, business and labour.”
He said, “That’s impractical, but this is how this government treats accountability. They bypass everything. They ignore the requirement, even in law as we are seeing it now. It is inhumane and unacceptable that this minister is allowed to continue with these kinds of transgressions.”
According to the Guardian, Ferriera was confirmed as chairman of NIB on January 24. He previously served as a government nominee on the NIB board.
As of January 26, Ferreira was also the chairman of Furness Chemicals Ltd, Furness Shipping and Marketing and Furness Personnel Services Limited.
He also serves as director of National Insurance Property Development Company Ltd (NIPDEC), a subsidiary of NIB, and a Director of T&T NGL Ltd, a subsidiary of the National Gas Company of Trinidad & Tobago.
The NIB Act states that the Board shall consist of 11 members designated as directors, who shall be appointed by the line minister and should include three members nominated by the Government, three members nominated by the associations most representative of business, three members nominated by the associations most representative of labour and a person, who in the opinion of the minister, is independent of the Government, business and labour, who shall be the Chairman.
