By Cliff Williams, Contributor 
Jackson
WELL WHAT has been rumoured for the last month or so, that neither of the two bids submitted in response to the Government's invitation for potential investors to tender Proposals For Lease of the Caymanas racing plant found favour with the National Investment Bank of Jamaica evaluators, has now been confirmed.
Frankly, this has come as no surprise to anyone who has followed the issue closely enough to understand what was happening given the magnitude of the capital investment required.
Last Monday Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance, Fitz Jackson, the man entrusted with the responsibility for matters pertaining to the racing industry, informed the respective bidders of their failure to secure the lease.
CLEAR MESSAGE
At the time of writing I am not privy to the details of the thinking that informed the decision but whatever it is the clear message is that it is going to take a lot more than what was submitted by the potential investors to secure the operations of the racetrack. I don't even know if there is any point in going into the matter now but it will be interesting to find out exactly where the shortcomings of the bidders really lay.
The obvious question to be answered now is just what the Government is contemplating and there is speculation already that new Proposals For Lease will be solicited.
If this is going to be the case then we are virtually back to square one and very quickly into another frustrating period for those wishing to see the Sport of Kings flourish as it undoubtedly has the potential to do.
This decision to delay divestment will not do anything positive for the confidence of the racing fraternity and especially those who invest so much and love the sport with a passion and a fanaticism that is hardly the case in other sport/business endeavours.
From what I can gather there is a substantial amount of clean money that would readily find its way into the industry through investment in bloodstock and more importantly in the development process on the road to modernisation.
Whilst we speculate on the likely impact of the decision not to divest at this time, we must endeavour to be absolutely fair and honest as we evaluate the Government's position.
There is really no need, unless incontrovertible evidence emerges, to think that the decision was politically expedient or was motivated by anything other than what was considered to be in the best interest of the industry. I suppose this will be debated at the appropriate time once the facts are out in the public domain.
For those who missed my column of last Tuesday let me just repeat in part what I said about what could have informed the Government's decision not to part with the promotion of live racing at this time.
As owners of the business the Government has it in its power to give the promoting company whatever it needs to make it economically viable. This could include a range of incentives from loan guarantees for capital development to Free Zone status, with the appropriate tax regime including an indefinite moratorium on revenue liabilities.
As I see it, given the current state of the industry, private investors are going to need similar meaningful incentives to achieve viability any reasonable time and without this one wonders if this investment is as attractive as it would appear.
