Owen Arthur wants urgent action on CLICO debacle

(Barbados Nation) Leader of the opposition Barbados Labour Party, Owen Arthur, says the people of Barbados cannot wait for a commission of inquiry into the affairs of CLICO International Life (CIL) – and has called for immediate action on the matter.

The former Prime Minister told a meeting of the party’s St Peter constituency branch at the Alma Parris Memorial School in Speightstown last night he would not be backing off the issue as had been recommended by Minister of Finance Chris Sinckler.

“The interests of poor people have to be served . . . and this matter must be pursued,” he declared. “If it leads to criminal prosecution, so be it. And if some of my taxpayer’s funds need to be expended in buying blue denim to adorn some people . . .  I want this evening to say: take my taxpayer’s dollars and buy it, and feed them well at Dodds. But this matter cannot go unaddressed like this,” he told the gathering.

He noted that hundreds of ordinary people in Barbados and other Eastern Caribbean nations have been hurt by the CLICO debacle.