More headaches - JFF surprised by hefty Catherine Hall charges

Sinclair: Bills for use of facility must be paid

BY PAUL A REID Observer writer

Saturday, February 12, 2011

MONTEGO BAY, St James — The organisers of the 12-team CONCACAF Under-17 tournament set to start next Monday are facing a hefty bill for the use of the Montego Bay Sports Complex at Catherine Hall.

Reports reaching the Observer are that the cost could run into millions of dollars that the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) had not budgeted for.

It is understood that the JFF representatives were surprised when told about the costs associated with the venue at a meeting late Wednesday evening.

Mayor of Montego Bay, Councillor Charles Sinclair, confirmed the reports in an interview with the Observer on Thursday, pointing out that there was no way the management committee of the facility could have given the venue to the JFF for free.

While not going into details about the cost, Sinclair, who is also the chairman of the Local Organising Committee of the CONCACAF event, said costs would be incurred for the use of the facility each match day and those bills, including the use of water and electricity, must be paid.

Investigations by the Observer reveal that the cost could go as high as $400,000 each match day, but it could not be ascertained whether there would be a cost to use Jarrett Park as well after that venue was added on Thursday after the Trelawny Multi-Purpose Stadium was rejected a day earlier.

When contacted for a comment, Horace Reid, general secretary of the JFF said the Ministry of Sports had been appraised of the situation and had promised to deal with it.

Sinclair said the costs were not unreasonable, as the JFF has to pay to use the National Stadium for games and had also paid to use Jarrett Park in 1999 when it was used as the only match venue for the CONCACAF Under-17 World Cup qualifying tournament.

The Mayor asked, "For the day to day maintenance of the venue, several costs would come into play. The guests invited by the JFF will use the bathrooms, electricity will be used and there will be cleaning up afterwards, who is supposed to pay for that?"

He pointed out that "the Urban Development Corporation (UDC) was in the process of transferring the management and eventually the ownership of the facility to the St James Parish Council and they (the UDC) have said they will not spend one cent from the UDC on it".

Sinclair said by law the parochial fund received by the Parish Council could only be spent in certain areas while pointing out that the JFF had received "substantial sums of money from CONCACAF and from Claro for the tournament, none of which has been accounted to the LOC".

He said the LOC had long been speaking about budgets and costs and said the state agencies have been working with the JFF, including the National Water Commission that had provided free water for the preparation of the UDC, Jarrett Park and Trelawny Multi-Purpose Stadium fields.

Citing the costs that the organisers of the Milo Western Relays were asked to pay for their meet scheduled for today at the same venue, Sinclair said: "Principle is principle, the Milo Western Relays people came in and negotiated a reduction which we accommodated," he said, describing the reaction of the JFF as "the wrong attitude".

The mayor asked "when the tournament ends and everyone leaves to go back to their homes and we are left with a bill that we are unable to pay and the electricity and water to the stadium are cut off for lack of payment, what do I tell the citizens of Montego Bay?"

Do you feel buying into Facebook now is a good investment for the long-run?
	Yes
	No

View Results
Results published weekly in Sunday Finance

Username:
Password:

Teen killed for laughing at man who fell from bicycle

More headaches - JFF surprised by hefty Catherine Hall charges