THE $10-million loss suffered by the popular Portland Jerk Festival is the bone of contention in a bitter ownership dispute that is threatening the ninth staging of the popular food fest this year.

Thousands of Jamaicans make the annual trek to the idyllic eastern parish for a day of fun, frolic and food, featuring a wide variety of succulent jerk dishes, with the famous Boston jerk pork occupying centrestage.

But a demand by the Portland Parish Development Committee (PDC) that ownership of the festival be handed to them by People’s National Party (PNP) member of parliament, Dr Donald Rhodd — as he had promised while his party was in power — has reached stalemate.

The combatants involve the PDC; Daryl Vaz, the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) member of parliament for West Portland; Dr Rhodd, the MP for East Portland; investors in the loss-making festival; and the 21st Century 20/20 Vision Foundation established by Rhodd and current owners of the festival.

“If the matter is not settled this year, I will take action to force them to come to a resolution,” Vaz threatened in an interview with the Sunday Observer.

He made it clear that the Folly property in eastern Portland, regarded as the only suitable venue for an event of that magnitude, might not be available to the festival organisers. Folly — on which sits the ruins of a mansion built by a rich American man in 1905 — is leased by the State-run Tourism Product Development Company.

Rhodd, who has since washed his hands of the whole matter, at least publicly, insists that the private investors in the festival had requested time to make back their money, and so the festival could not be handed over to the PDC.

“Had it not been for them, the festival would have died. They kept it going with their personal funds,” said Rhodd. “I suggested that they be given two years to get back their money, but they asked for three years, saying they did not think two was sufficient. I think it’s only reasonable.”

It was Rhodd who took the idea of a Portland Jerk Festival to then Tourism Minister Francis Tulloch in 2001. Tulloch assigned it to the Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB), which staged the first two with a bang at Boston, where Jamaicans like to feast on its world-famous jerk pork.

Sponsors jumped on board and thousands of Jamaicans flocked to Boston. The overnight success took the organisers by surprise and it was quickly moved to Folly, which had space for parking and accommodation for the large crowds and vendors selling from a pin to an anchor.

But for all its success, the private investors in the festival said they did not recoup their money.

“I lost quite a bit of money in 2005 when the festival was twice postponed because of the hurricane that year,” said Sybil Rendle, a former chairperson of the PDC and current chairperson of the Portland Jerk Festival Committee which organises the festival. Rendle is one of seven investors.

In 2003, the JTB left it for the Portlanders to run the festival, citing strategic reasons. Rhodd established the Portland Jerk Festival Committee, chaired by Rendle who was also chairman of the PDC at the time, to take charge.

PDC members believe the festival rightly belongs to them. Vice-chairman Colin Bell is convinced Rhodd does not want to hand over the festival.

He said that some years ago, the MP had registered it under his 21st Century 20/20 Vision Foundation, on grounds that he was protecting the festival, after two young men from the parish had registered it in their names. He noted that the PDC prevailed upon the two to relinquish it and they did.

Bell had minutes of meetings and other documents showing Rhodd had promised to hand the festival to the PDC when it was in a position to legally accept it. Since 2008, the PDC has been ready, having been registered and legally incorporated, said Bell.

He said the PDC had organised the festival up to the 2009 when Rendle ceased to be chairman “and the festival left with her”.

Vaz said he had been trying to get a resolution of the matter, by setting up meetings of the parties involved since 2007.

“But Dr Rhodd refuses to come to the table. We even set a meeting with the prime minister and he did not attend,” said Vaz. “I am determined that we must have a resolution this year in the interest of the people of Portland. If it is necessary, no state entity or facilities will be available to the festival.”

But when contacted by the Sunday Observer, Rhodd admitted that he had promised to hand the festival over to the Parish Development Committee. However, while he would like to see such a committee run the festival, he could not ignore the investors who had kept the festival going and had requested time to recoup their investment.

“It is true that I had indicated to the then PDC that I believe that at some point the PDC should play a leading role in the management of the festival, when they had acquired the necessary capacities and the legal framework to do so,” said Rhodd. “This had remained the basis for the current demands from a new PDC.

“These demands could not be considered since, in retrospect, I was expressing my vision as an MP. But the reality and economic implications are otherwise, bearing in mind the financial investments made by private investors,” Rhodd argued.

The PNP MP dismissed Vaz’s claims that he would not meet, saying that he had met with him in the corridors of the Parliament.

Rhodd also questioned Vaz’s threat that Folly might not be available to the festival, saying that he was neither the minister under whose portfolio the property falls, nor the MP for the area.

“Furthermore, I asked Tourism Minister Ed Bartlett about the matter and he said he had taken no such decision,” Rhodd said.

Queried by the Sunday Observer yesterday, Bartlett said that he knew very little about the issue, but that he was to be briefed by Vaz. “Folly falls under my portfolio, however, Minister Vaz is responsible for development, and as such he has some jurisdiction. I’ll be able to say more after our meeting,” said Bartlett.

In the meantime, Rhodd has resigned as patron from the 21st Century 20/20 Vision Foundation, which he established to spur development of the parish, saying he wanted to remove the odour of politics from the issue. He said he hoped the dispute would not be a turnoff to sponsors.