JCA moving to get financials in line

Jermaine Lannaman, Gleaner Writer

Paul Campbell, president of the Jamaica Cricket Association (JCA), says the recommendation of Don Wehby that his body produces audited accounts with notes 90 days after year end, as required by publicly listed companies, is in keeping with the JCA's plans.

According to Campbell, whose administration has been accused of lacking transparency - claims which have never been proven - had it not been for a delay in auditing procedures last year, the results for the 2009-10 financial year would have met the three-month timeline.

"The recommendation is in sync with our plans as we had outlined some time ago that it was our intention to achieve a similar target this financial year," said Campbell, whose administration is in the second of its two-year reign.

"For our 2009-10 financials, we will miss the timeline as three months would have been in December and we are already in January, given the fact that our financial year ends in September."

He added: "However, what we are committed to is producing the 2009-10 financials within six months, which is by March 31, 2011, and our 2010-11 accounts within three months," he explained.

Wehby's recommendation, which was one of several made regarding governance and the income-earning potential of Jamaica and West Indies cricket, came during last week's staging of the JCA's annual awards dinner at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel.

Wehby, the newly appointed GraceKennedy group chief operating officer and former government senator and minister without portfolio in the Office of the Prime Minister, was the guest speaker.

Elections

The JCA, which will be having its annual general meeting and election of officers on February 9 and Campbell, who is a businessman, claims that no other JCA administration has done as much to make the association more transparent.

"This administration is the first one to have appointed a chairman of our finance committee, who is not a member of the board, in a well-known banker, Terrence Allen, and we did this in our first year of operations," he outlined.

"We also added three independent members with the requisite skills to strengthen financial oversight and to achieve outputs that have been outlined by Wehby.

"So we have been taking steps, and bold steps too, to address accountability and transparency.

"However, it seems to suit others, for whatever reasons, to make allegations rather than seek the truth."