Up to a few weeks ago retired banker Tony Marshall was the ‘man’ in Barbados. According to the Systematic Survey he was Starcom’s number one talk show host. Until his 2 year term expired as Chairman of the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) last week, he occupied one of the most important positions in Barbados. BU agrees with George Payne MP who suggested in his contribution to the Estimates Debate that the NIS ranks in importance with the Central Bank of Barbados and the Barbados Electoral Boundaries Commission and therefore should operate with independence. One wonders however if the statement was made based on ‘lodge’ loyalty.
So what happened?
A couple weeks ago Starcom’s David Ellis in response to a public query about Tony Marshall’s absence from hosting the talk show Brasstacks, explained that Tony Marshall will not be returning to the show. It is obvious any decision by Starcom to block its most popular talk show host from the airwaves must have been based on a ‘show-stopper’ issue. CEO of Starcom Vic Fernandes is a man who sees dollars first and Marshall’s absence from Brasstacks and its potential impact on advertising dollars would have weighed heavily in the decision to part ways.
So what happened?
To add to Marshall’s March Madness, Minister Byer-Suckoo announced last week that his term as Chairman of the NIS had expired and the government was not interested in renewing, no explanation was given for his ‘removal’. Any insight into how Marshall felt about the decision was gauged by his blunt reaction to Starcom’s Stetson Babb request for comment. It is known that Marshall is a DLP sympathizer who was rumoured to have been shortlisted to take up an overseas diplomatic posting which never materialized.
So what happened?
BU’s position regarding Marshall’s role as Chairman of the NIS is that he should have resigned given his involvement on the boards of CLICO companies. The role of the NIS is very important and any lack of confidence in NIS Board members was not healthy. The government would also be mindful of the political fallout which could arise from Marshall’s past association with CLICO.
There is also the NIS decision to invest in the Four Seasons after the Marshall led Board was summoned to Bay Street. Did Marshall try to exert a position which was contrary to that of government? If his term was not rolled over for reason of exercising the independence of the NIS Board this would contradict Ministers Sinckler and Byer-Suckoo protestations that the government has not sought to interfere with the decision making of the Board.
So what happened?
If the economic conditions were not challenging enough for the government, it now has a disgruntled Tony Marshall in the wings pondering his next move. Whether one agrees with Marshall or not there is no doubt he has a fan base and any utterances by him which place the government in a bad light is something it does not need at this time.
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