A sum of $17m has been lost by T&T due to the cancellation of the inaugural Caribbean Games. This was revealed by Dennise Demming, Chairman of the Local Organising Committee (LOC) for the 2009 Games during a press conference, hosted by the Caribbean National Olympic Committee (CANOC) executive at the Hyatt Regency Hotel on Wrightson Road in Port of Spain, yesterday.
Demming said: “At the LOC we have been trying to minimize our losses after the cancellation. But if we were to put a figure of the level of expenditure so far it would be in the region of $17m.”
She stated that it was hard to put a final figure on the amount because of several lingering contractual negotiations. Demming said: “Remember the games were only cancelled 24 days before it was scheduled to begin. We had paid deposits for all our contracts like hotel rooms and food.
While there are clauses to get back those deposits its hard to know exactly how much we can get back. So the final cost will only be known when we finish these things.” Demming also revealed that the budget for the Games had risen beyond the budget of $35m which the LOC met when it had been appointed in 2007 by then Minister of Sport and Youth Affairs Roger Boynes.
“When this LOC was appointed in 2007 we were give a budget of US $6m or TT $36m with which to operate. That figure had been calculated since 2005 and was an indicative budget meaning that there was no calculation put in place for inflation and other factors,” said Demming
She added “After we reviewed the budget we came up with a move realistic figure of $50m in 2008.” This new figure according to Demming was being met by sponsors in collaboration with the T&T Government. She however stated that because of the global financial crisis in 2009 many of the sponsors either cut back on the sums which they had previously committed or pulled out altogether from the sponsorship of the event.
“Things changed in 2009 we had sponsors pulling out of the event entirely while others said they were not in the position to commit the same amounts they had before. We came to a point where we were in a real crunch for money at one point,” said Demming. As a cost cutting measure according to Demming government had set up a Ministerial Committee for the Games
