By Neto Baptiste
Delayed payments to contractors and service providers hired by the government during the hosting of the ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup earlier this year, has muddied the waters between the Antigua and Barbuda Cricket Association (ABCA) and its usual partners.
This is according to president of the local body, Leon “Kuma” Rodney, who said some companies and individuals are still owed outstanding funds from the January-February tournament and have started demanded some form of upfront payments when called upon by the association including the ongoing CG Insurance Super 50 Cup.
“As far as people are concerned cricket is cricket and Kuma is in charge of cricket of the Antigua and Barbuda Cricket Association is in charge of cricket so whether government owes us it is you [Kuma] that we have to deal with so you have to get us our money. Just before calling, I got a call from a specific person who had gotten half of what they are owed, but it is a long outstanding matter so at the end of the day, let’s wait and see what happens,” he said.
“What is happening now is that you have to see if you can find money for deposits and so forth because people want a little deposit here or there before they do any work,” he added.
In August, Rodney made a public plea to the government to start making payments to individuals owed for services provided as funds were said to have been allocated through the CIP for the said purpose.
He said that although the cricket association was not directly responsible for hiring anyone for the ICC event, individuals were bombarding him with queries about payments.
Rodney revealed that some parties have since received part payments from the Treasury, but reminded there are still many outstanding.
“Some little things are happening but, obviously, there is still some pressure. I had an audience with the gentleman over there [Treasury] and we went through some stuff that were resubmitted, so they are doing some work on it,” he said.
Rodney had predicted that government’s failure to make good on promised payments could negatively impact the association’s ability to do business.
