Opposition spokesman on Finance, Dr. Omar Davies, said Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Audley Shaw, has yet to clarify his position o investment schemes.

In a news release, yesterday, Dr. Davies said that when the former administration initiated legal proceedings agains investment schemes, Mr. Shaw - who was then Opposition Spokesman on Finance - "did not support them inside or outside of Parliament".

Dr. Davies contended that Mr. Shaw had not retracted his previous utterances on the issue.

During a parliamentary debate on January 30, last year, Mr. Shaw commented on the then government's approach to dealing with the new investment schemes.

Entrepreneurial drive

"Mr. Speaker, it cannot be the duty of the Government to in any way, seek to suppress the entrepreneurial drive by using the power of the State either illegally, oppressively or in a corrupt way," he had said. The global economy, Mr. Speaker, is a very real thing and the answer must lie in creating an economy in which entrepreneurs of all types can co-exist and flourish, where they are welcomed and not constantly alienated, where they are allowed to take their risks and yield high profits or suffer the consequences of their high risk-taking propensities."

Mr. Shaw also urged the then Finance Minister, Dr. Davies, to "enforce the rules where they are enforceable, regulate where regulation is necessary, inform the public of the risks involved where risks are involved".

Dr. Davies said the statement made by the Government on Tuesday emanated from Don Wehby, Minister without Portfolio in the Finance Ministry, and not Minister Shaw. He said that raised the question of whether Minister Shaw's position on the matter had been compromised.

Asked by reporters on Wednesday, whether Mr. Shaw had changed his position regarding these schemes, Mr. Wehby said, "I don't know, you would have to ask Mr. Shaw."