Bidder selected to lease Montego Bay Sports Complex

Montego Bay Multi Sports Development Limited has been selected to lease the Montego Bay Sports Complex in St James.

The announcement was made today by procurement officer at the St James Municipal Corporation Kimberly Webb.

The bid opened in September.

Head of the company Yoni Epstein told The Gleaner that the entity fulfilled all the requirements of the municipal corporation, describing the process as transparent.

“It is a start and a journey of us bringing the sporting fraternities back to its leadership role here in the west. As a group, we are proud of the offer we put forward. We will await and see what is the next process and how long before we can sign the lease and call it the game of football, track and field, aquatics, tennis, futsol,” Epstein said.

As part of the bid, the company will spend $694,375,000 to develop the stadium, which has a capacity of 7,000, over the next three years.

Operational funding will amount to $51,150,000 per year.

The lease agreement is for 25 years.

The bid offer sees $6,227,500 being paid per annum to the municipal corporation for years 1-20.

For years 21-25, rent will be paid in the form of one percent of annual revenue generated from ticket sales and fees.

Epstein said there are big plans for the stadium.

“The first thing we are going to do is to upgrade the pitch to international standards, we are going to upgrade the lights to get us to leaves that the stadium will be approved for Concacaf matches and the resurfacing of the track and field track.”

Source: Jamaica Gleaner: Ashley Anguin