Some eight years after CLICO insurance went “belly-up” some 10,000 plus policy holders could be expecting some sort of payout next week and Pastor Emeritus of New Covenant Baptist Church Bishop Simeon Hall, who initially stood up for the policyholders, is commending Prime Minister Perry Christie for it.

Although Bishop Hall could not give an estimate of the payout, he said he expects the payment sometime next week.

“It’s been a long drawn out episode, but I want to commend the Christie government for bringing resolution to it,” Bishop Hall said.

“I’m very grateful and I speak not only for myself, but for the grandmother and grandfathers who were negatively affected by this saga.”

With just days away from the election, Bishop Hall said politics has nothing to do with the payout timing.

“Now there are those who would wonder about the politics involve and to be honest and to be frank, I do not care what the politics is. I want my money and I believe I speak for the thousands of persons who were owed for all these years,” he said.

“We should have been paid with interest, but I believe a little something is better than nothing at all.”

Bishop Hall said the one thing he wants to be underscored in all of this, is that something like this should never happen again to the Bahamian people.

In March of last year during his Budget Communication, Prime Minister Perry Christie had revealed that some $16 million would be paid out to the victims at the end of that month.

Bishop Hall could also not confirm whether or not those payouts were made in the time allotted.