Lovell says negotiation, not aggression, is what PM Browne needs to resolve insurance-payment matter with T&T Gov’t

Harold Lovell is decrying the aggressive position that Prime Minister Gaston Browne has taken in the matter involving the collapsed British American Insurance Company Limited (BAICO) and Colonial Life Insurance Company Limited (CLICO) and promises by the Government of Trinidad & Tobago to pay local policy-holders.

Browne is threatening to sue the T&T Government over its failure to pay the US$60 million balance on a US$100 million commitment.

The Prime Minister, in his usual fashion, made the announcement on his affiliated radio station – rather than on State media – on Saturday, July 23.

Lovell, the Political Leader of the United Progressive Party (UPP), says the Head of Government lacks diplomacy.

Lovell, an attorney-at-law, says the payment promised by the T&T Government was not an official court order; rather, it came about after months of negotiation. This is what is now needed, Lovell says: a meeting at the table.

The Political Leader says the Browne Administration may have an uphill battle litigating this matter.

BAICO and CLICO – a Trinidad-based conglomerate, went into insolvency in 2009, leaving Antigua and Barbuda policy-holders among those still owed millions of dollars.

The Government reportedly is pursuing litigation against the principals of the insurance companies.

Meanwhile, PM Browne said he hopes that Trinidad & Tobago is benefitting from the increase in fuel prices and therefore will put some system in place to cover the rest of its liability.