Byron McDonald, general manager for credit and loan administration at the Development Bank of Jamaica (right), signs a loan agreement that provides Television Jamaica with $248 million to equip its Lyndhurst Road complex. Looking on, from left, are: Amrit Sinanan, managing director of RBTT, which is providing the loan; Lester Spaulding, chairman and managing director of the RJR group, and Milton Samuda, chairman of TVJ. - Contributed TELEVISION JAMAICA has secured a $248 million loan from Royal Bank of Trinidad & Tobago (RBTT) to equip the station's new production, news and sports complex at Lyndhurst Road.
In making the announcement, Lester Spaulding, RJR's group chairman and managing director, said the loan agreement signed in RJR's board room last week, followed months of intense negotiations.
Mr. Spaulding said RBTT, which collaborated with the Development Bank of Jamaica in setting up the financing, was selected from a group of competitive bids from local financial institutions.
Byron Mcdonald, general manager for credit and loan administration at the development bank, told Wednesday Business that RBTT accessed under 50 per cent of the loan funds from DBJ for on-lending to TV-J.
The development bank provides financing at 13 per cent, effectively reducing the loan financing costs to the end user.
CONFIDENCE
"The banks' willingness to fund the project shows their confidence in the future success of television and radio in this country," said Mr. Spaulding. McDonald described it as an "historic intervention", the development bank having never before provided financing to a media house.
RBTT's managing director, Amrit Sinanan, said although the Trinidad-based bank was a newcomer in the Jamaican market, "we have gone all out to provide good service at a faster rate, while ensuring that we are cost effective."
He also noted that RBTT Jamaica, which started three years ago with a portfolio of $1.2 billion when it acquired Union Bank - an amalgamation of four of Jamaica's failed financial institutions - has increased that to $9 billion at the end of March, this year.
"At the end of July this year, we had a portfolio of $12 billion, but while our growth has been aggressive, we have also applied strict risk management to our operations," Mr. Sinanan said.
McDonald said DBJ was enthusiastic about the TVJ project because media represented a vital part of the development process for democracy in Jamaica.
