Golf course leads way to CDA’s recovery

Chaguaramas Golf Course
Chaguaramas Golf Course

The much talked-about golf course at Chaguaramas is today an integral part of the Chaguaramas Development Authority’s (CDA) thrust towards financial stability. This has been disclosed in a report sent from the current Board appointed in 2015 to the Minister with responsibility for the CDA, Camille Robinson-Regis, Minister of Planning and Development.

It is reported that despite limited funds, upgrade works were conducted to improve the Golf Course’s commercial revenue generating ability as well as re-structuring and improving its administration. There was a huge leap in revenue earnings soaring from $292,397.00 in September 2015 to $598,529.00 in September 2017.

This was a 105% increase in revenue earned on the same Golf Course.

The report illustrates a deliberate approach by the Board to address the challenges identified by the present management and shift the perception of the past from one of squandermania, amassed debts and under-valued leases, among other ills.

Several bold measures taken by the Board has put the organisation on the road to financially self-sufficient prospect in the near future, sources tol Newsday.

The reports speak to a worrisome state when the Board took up its fiduciary duties in September 2015, meeting a financial burden with expenditure exceeding income by two million dollars per month.

A major portion of this expenditure was payment of salaries for a burgeoning staff structure which had increased by 100% over the 2010 -2015 period, thus making the CDA even more penurious.

A comparison of January 2010 with January 2015 shows an increase from $1,051,130.00 to $2,467,636.00 per month. A Manpower Audit was commissioned to provide recommendations towards a cost effective structure in alignment with the CDA’s core functions and this is already being implemented with the desired results, sources said.

The Board had also set in motion other strategies to remedy the dire situation at the CDA, implementing additional cost cutting measures and maximising debt-collection.

The report points out that the CDA has been able to significantly reduce expenditure from 2015 to 2017, achieving a reduction of operating expenses by 44%.

Outsourced fees such as consultancies, public relations and legal fees were drastically reduced by upwards of 75%. To illustrate the point, legal fees alone went from $6.7 million in 2015 to $829,735 in 2016.

Another notable area mentioned in the report in which taxpayers’ money was being bad-spent was in vehicle rentals.

The CDA was renting a fleet of 10 vehicles since August 2015 for a period of three years at an annual rent of close to $1.5 million.

The CDA had difficulty in paying the rent of the vehicles but the Board showed its good business sense by purchasing the vehicles outright in September 2016 which proved to be more economical as the cost was slightly more than just one year’s rental sum. That these vehicles are now assets of the CDA should not be ignored,sources told Newsday.

The point is also made in the report that maximising debt collection was an important part of the equation and the approach taken was to go after outstanding debts in a deliberate manner.

This concerned old leases prior to 2010, some of which had been languishing for 10 years by bringing the arrears on rental up-to date and negotiating better conditions that were more profitable.

A 66% increase in revenue reportedly came from this approach which impacted positively on the efficiency of operations of the CDA, its reputation in the business community and boosted staff morale.

Not to be outdone, senior sources at the CDA have confirmed that the current Board has led by example cutting their expenses to bare essentials. Privileges enjoyed in the past were no longer the order of the day.

The report gives a positive outlook for the CDA with the current Board advocating that any future leadership should heed the established road-map for self-sufficiency and business continuity which has since been put in place.

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"Golf course leads way to CDA’s recovery"

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