Orville Clarke, Freelance Writer

State Minister of Finance, Fitz Jackson, promised that an official announcement will be made this week re the divestment of Caymanas Park.

He was responding to a question from this reporter at last Thursday's 18th annual None Such/Horse of the Year Awards Dinner at the Jamaica Pegasus.

It was widely believed the minister would have made a public announcement at the awards function, bearing in mind that the word on the street is that the pending divestment of the Caymanas Park is off.

But instead of addressing the function, as he has done in previous years, Minister Jackson, who has portfolio responsibility for the racing industry, only presented a few of the awards.

Meanwhile, William Chin-See, chairman of Caymanas Track Limited (CTL), has declared publicly that divestment of the near 200-acre racing complex is off the table.

Speaking at the annual Media Appreciation luncheon at the Terra Nova Hotel on Tuesday, January 16, Chin-See said: "I have it on reasonably good information that divestment is a no-no," he declared.

"The announcement is imminent. The minister has not yet made the announcement ... but we expected it a week ago," he told racing personnel.

That declaration by Chin-See surprised nobody at the luncheon, as it has been long rumoured that the Government has decided against the privatisation of Caymanas Park.

Owner/trainer Richard Alan, head of Caymanas Entertainment Limited (CEL), the preferred bidder, said he has heard the rumours, but confessed yesterday that he is yet to receive any official notification from the Government.

In a recent interview, Alan had this to say: "I was expecting it. As with everything else in Jamaica the Government has no vision of what it is to have a first world racing industry."

He disclosed that CEL has spent $40 million throughout the bidding process.