MBU gets early competition

WITH JUST around a month and a half to go before accepting proposals for leasing the Montego Bay Sports Complex close, The Gleaner has been reliably informed there are already two bidders under consideration.

In an advertisement in The Sunday Gleaner, the St James Municipal Corporation (STJMC) announced that bidding would close at noon on November 18.

Speaking with The Gleaner, Mayor of Montego Bay Richard Vernon said the criteria for leasing the stadium are based on Government of Jamaica (GOJ) Divestment policy.

“There are criteria for selection, and the bidder that fulfils those criteria best will be selected. These criteria are based on GOJ’s divestment policy. Additionally, an explicit condition includes being a multidisciplinary sports development company,” said Vernon.

“The tender box is placed for public access, and the media can access to see who has submitted,” he added.

The stadium is being used in a limited way with only Montego Bay United FC calling it home for Premier League games.

The Government says its policy of privatisation of state-owned assets and enterprises are part of a general strategy to streamline the public sector through a far-reaching administrative reform programme aimed at reducing government bureaucracy and reducing the fiscal burden of non-performing and non-core assets.

The policy framework applies to the transfer of assets, shares or operational responsibilities currently held by a public body (which is defined in the Public Bodies Management and Accountability Act as “statutory body or authority or any government company”) or ministry or department of the GOJ to the private sector. The Public Private Partnership (PPP) Policy forms an addendum to the privatisation policy. The term ‘privatisation’ when used in this policy is to be understood to include all the types of transactions in which ownership or management responsibility of government assets are transferred to the private sector in whole or part.

“The process will be completely transparent, from the bid opening to the selection. Members of the public will be invited to observe the entire process. We will be convening a stakeholder meeting so that concerns can be represented in the agreement,” Vernon said

“All other concerns will be addressed once a proposal is selected and properly reviewed by the council and lawyers. All timeline targets and deliverables will be outlined in the agreement, with the necessary mechanisms to address any default. Furthermore, the lease will have in-built key performance indexes to ensure commitments are delivered as planned,” Vernon explained.

A few weeks ago, MBU’s chairman, Yoni Epstein, said the team was ready to make a bid. One of the goals of MBU’s new management of Montego Bay is to be able to officially call the Montego Bay Sports Complex, home.