di PM seh dem never buy the theme park , just the land it deh pon

[Wahalla]

I always thought that the concept of the NHT was to develop afforable housing... Thus if they built up this huge excess then they were not fulfilling their remit....so they should be funding the building houses...and if they are not then they should not be taking money out of paypackages and or reducing the amount... this would actually allow greater buying power of the contributors....

This is the part of the NHT i dont get....the excess tells methat they are not doing their function....

[RichD]

Little-White: Black people deserve write-offs, too
Former operator of Outameni Experience, Lennie Little-White, is questioning if "black people" should not get government help, as he responded to criticisms that the Government wrote off his entity's debt with the Development Bank of Jamaica (DBJ).
Yesterday, Opposition Spokesman on Finance Audley Shaw demanded to know why the Government wrote off an $80-million liability that accumulated on a 2005 investment in the film-maker's entity.
But Little-White is arguing that there was nothing untoward about the Government's decision.
"All those things that brown people in Jamaica get and they're written off. Banks write off things every day. The Government writes off things all the while. Why black people must not get write-off, too?" asked Little-White.
Meanwhile, he is denying claims that the National Housing Trust'spurchase was a bailout by the current administration because of his political preference, stressing that the Bruce Golding administration found favour with his proposal to save Outameni Experience.
Opposition Leader Andrew Holness claims the Government has irresponsibly used taxpayers' money to "bail out" a private, loss-making entity.
But Little-White is rejecting those assertions.
"Is foolishness Audley Shaw and Holness talking, and I'll tell dem suh in dem face!"
- Jovan Johnson

[Tuff Gong]

I always thought that the concept of the NHT was to develop afforable housing... Thus if they built up this huge excess then they were not fulfilling their remit....so they should be funding the building houses...and if they are not then they should not be taking money out of paypackages and or reducing the amount... this would actually allow greater buying power of the contributors....

This is the part of the NHT i dont get....the excess tells methat they are not doing their function....

Nope it was to provide fund for Top Comrades to build a retirement nest egg.

[Tuff Gong]

Little-White: Black people deserve write-offs, too
Former operator of Outameni Experience, Lennie Little-White, is questioning if "black people" should not get government help, as he responded to criticisms that the Government wrote off his entity's debt with the Development Bank of Jamaica (DBJ).

Yep went straight to Black Man Time Now.
Having been a longtime PNP Supporter I know how Comrades think. Their entire agenda is a revenge on Jamaicans for allowing Brown People to profit and not Black Skinned Jamaicans. Never mind (as one Brown Comrade reminded us), the greatest transfer of wealth from the poor to rich happen during the years of PNP rule.

Seems to me this Outta-Money purchase is another piece of the New Uhuru/Harmony Cove Comrade Retirement Pillage. Complete with Jerk Poak Pit and Wet Bar. Lenny Likky-Likky Blac ... was to supply the latest iteration.

[Gen]

wasnt it last year or couple years back where the govt TOOK money from NHT to prop up the budget ?

one lady wait 30 years for a house, I don't know how that make any sense.

and yes dem need to stop tek people money since contributors not getting any houses

I always thought that the concept of the NHT was to develop afforable housing... Thus if they built up this huge excess then they were not fulfilling their remit....so they should be funding the building houses...and if they are not then they should not be taking money out of paypackages and or reducing the amount... this would actually allow greater buying power of the contributors....

This is the part of the NHT i dont get....the excess tells methat they are not doing their function....

[Gen]

apparently Little White wrote to the top peeps at NHT when the deal was first being shopped (or suh) to question the sale and in his correspondence he noted that the people of JA would need an explanation as to why the NHT was buying the property -

nothing more than him was a try be pro-active to cover him bottom when everyting come to light, and a gwaan like him "concerned" and have any conscience, kmt.

and based on what him seh below bout write off, him wasn't really concerned with how the "deal" would look to the public

Little-White: Black people deserve write-offs, too
Former operator of Outameni Experience, Lennie Little-White, is questioning if "black people" should not get government help, as he responded to criticisms that the Government wrote off his entity's debt with the Development Bank of Jamaica (DBJ).
Yesterday, Opposition Spokesman on Finance Audley Shaw demanded to know why the Government wrote off an $80-million liability that accumulated on a 2005 investment in the film-maker's entity.
But Little-White is arguing that there was nothing untoward about the Government's decision.
"All those things that brown people in Jamaica get and they're written off. Banks write off things every day. The Government writes off things all the while. Why black people must not get write-off, too?" asked Little-White.
Meanwhile, he is denying claims that the National Housing Trust'spurchase was a bailout by the current administration because of his political preference, stressing that the Bruce Golding administration found favour with his proposal to save Outameni Experience.
Opposition Leader Andrew Holness claims the Government has irresponsibly used taxpayers' money to "bail out" a private, loss-making entity.
But Little-White is rejecting those assertions.
"Is foolishness Audley Shaw and Holness talking, and I'll tell dem suh in dem face!"
- Jovan Johnson

[RichD]

Everybody a chime in : so the PM sey dem only buy the land and not the attraction. appears to me the Loan is to OVH. wonder why dem don't try recoup the investment once the land was sold and the company no longer running the attraction.

The Development Bank of Jamaica (DBJ) has revealed that though it decided in October 2013 to write off a $76.4-million investment in the Orange Valley Holdings (OVH)-run Outameni Experience attraction, it would still be able to collect what is due if the debt-ridden company rebounds.That debt, the DBJ said, amounted to more than $200 million at the time.
In a statement yesterday, DBJ Chairman Joseph M. Matalon outlined that, arising from the merger of the DBJ and National Investment Bank of Jamaica (NIBJ), as at September 30, 2006, the DBJ assumed ownership of the outstanding preference shares from a US$500,000 investment made in March of the previous year.
"The preference shares have not been cancelled, enabling the DBJ to collect in the event there is a turnaround in the fortunes of the company," Matalon said in response to suggestions in the public sphere that the DBJ had provided the first of two government bailouts to the operators of Outameni.
Matalon, in outlining the DBJ's association with Outameni, said yesterday that OVH approached the NIBJ in January 2005 for an equity investment of US$500,000 to assist with the construction of a heritage tourism attraction/theme park at Orange Grove, Trelawny, to be named Outameni Theme Park."In accordance with the then mandate of the NIBJ to provide equity capitalto viable projects, and in keeping with its focus on the development of tourism-related projects, the NIBJ, at its board of directors' meeting on March 31, 2005, approved an investment of US$500,000," Matalon said.
The investment was for a period of five years with fixed dividend payments of eight per cent, payable annually.
However, six years later, the DBJ board took a decision to make full provision against the investment, by charging the profit-and-loss account of the bank and reducing the carrying value of the asset in its balance sheet.
"It should be noted that this provision was made at a point in time long before the National Housing Trust (NHT) transaction was consummated or even contemplated," Matalon said, in separating the DBJ from the ongoing controversy surrounding the Trust's $180-million purchase of the property.
IMPAIRED INVESTMENT
"The board's decision to make full provision for the preference shares was based on the fact that the investment was impaired, the bank not having received any preference dividends or redemptions since inception of the project, and the project itself having recorded losses in each year of operation since inception."
Matalon said the DBJ decision was prudent and in keeping with international financial reporting standards, and that the bank's external auditors subsequently reviewed and accepted the move.
He said the potential purchase of OVH by the NHT was discussed during a meeting of the DBJ board on December 20, 2012, and, based on a request from the NHT, a letter of no objection to the transfer of lands, free and clear from any liens of the NIBJ/DBJ, should the NHT decide to proceed with a purchase of the property.
"Matalon noted that, in October 2013, the DBJ board took a further decision to write off the investment in OVH altogether on the basis of the fact that, among other things, OVH owed secured lenders to the project J$209 million, with interest continuing to accrue and increasing the outstanding secured balances over time.
The DBJ had also recognised that, in any future liquidation of the OVH, the bank's preference shares would rank behind the secured lenders and all other creditors, in the order of priority of distribution to shareholders and creditors.
"Given the foregoing facts, it was clear to the board that the chance of any recovery of the investment was extremely remote and therefore justified the write-off of the asset," Matalon said.

DBJ's Outameni Facts

• At the time of write-off, the balance of the investment was US$728,383.51 (the equivalent of J$76,476,554, based on the then exchange rate of US$1=J$104.9949) due to the DBJ at October 2013, and representing the original value of the preference shares plus accumulated rights to dividends since issuance of the shares.
• The National Investment Bank of Jamaica made an equity investment in - not a loan to - the Orange Valley Holdings project. The Development Bank of Jamaica, by policy, does not make direct equity investments, but rather provides loans on concessionary terms to viable projects in the productive sector.

[RichD]

ah sah

KINGSTON, Jamaica:
Former National Housing Trust (NHT) board member Dr Davidson Daway, says the Outameni scandal rocking the trust was bound to happen because of the “arrogance and recklessness” of some board members.

He told The Gleaner/Power 106 News Centre that the Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller now has no choice but to send the current members packing if she wants to rescue her legacy and save poor people’s money.

Daway was among four members who resigned in March, sending strong signals from then that all was not well within the entity set up to give Jamaicans affordable housing.

“This was bound to happen because of the recklessness of the whole situation of the board and that was one of the reasons why I moved away.”

He says when the Outameni proposal came to board discussions, initially in December 2012, some members did not have much of an input, which, according to him, confirmed some of the ethical challenges facing the board.

“It came in the form of a report from the managing director at the time and there was some dissent to the idea, however, it was decided that the report should return back to a committee for prudent recommendation. I never saw it again.” he explained.

It has emerged that the NHT’s technical committee had indicated that the Outameni purchase could be out of the mandate of the trust but board chairman Easton Douglas reportedly indicated that the board had already made a decision.

However, Daway is now countering that assertion. “There wasn’t even a vote, it was a discussion. I am pretty surprised to be hearing of it [the Outameni purchase]. I cannot remember in any meeting where that [vote] was taken and I have been searching my notes and not found anything. We had a meeting in December and the next one was February and I attended both.”

The NHT chairman has said the board authorised the purchase of the property for $180 million in December 2012.

Daway says while his resignation was not specific to the Outameni purchase, he was fed up with how the board carried out its functions.

“The board was more or less a free-for-all, well, not free for all [but] free for a few. Only the views of certain people were actually recognising. Things like dissenting views were not really published and that was a problem for me.

Pressed as to why he remained on the board for almost two years given his feelings, Daway claims he was “still trying to learn the operations of the board and the trust, I took my notes along the way and then recognise that this is something I’m not very happy with.”

Meanwhile, Daway says the axing of former managing director Cecile Watson may have links with her expressed concerns about the Outameni purchase.

“She was one of the most efficient leaders at the trust and I remembered her arguing at some point about it [Outameni purchase] not being, at this particular time, a prudent thing. [But] in good conscience, I cannot say that is what triggered the separation but I’m concerned that that was one of the issues.”

Watson was sacked last year after being accused of unauthorised expenditure to undertake renovations to the NHT’s board room and executive floor.

Daway says his resignation in March as well as that of three other board members should have been a wake up call to the Prime Minister.

[Tuff Gong]

“The board was more or less a free-for-all, well, not free for all [but] free for a few. Only the views of certain people were actually recognising. Things like dissenting views were not really published and that was a problem for me.

You have to love how he corrects himself mid-sentence!
Only a few Comrades benefit from these pap-affs!

[Wahalla]

I noted that Board member Kevyon Gayle resigned....

[Tuff Gong]

My apologies to Lenny Likky-Likky Blac. One gets the impression that he was setup, he is merely the fall-guy. Seems like bigger Comrades, including the Board Of One, Comrade Easton Douglas had plans fi the Out-A-Money set.
The wanted the land and the standby generator sans the Slave Drama. Comrade Likky-Likky was tricked, then left high and by those he thought were his, Blackman-Loving Comrades.
Maybe he can leave Jamaica, move to Canada and take his so-called Intellectual Property with him, somewhere it will be better appreciated?

Of course the fact is not lost that like other failed States, Haiti, Somalia, Afghanistan, a herd of goats and/or a standby generator is worth its weight in gold.

[evanovitch]

Anatomy Of A Scandal Piecing together the NHT-Outameni puzzle: A Blow by Blow acc

Anatomy Of A Scandal

Piecing together the NHT-Outameni puzzle: A Blow by Blow account

BY DESMOND ALLEN Executive editor – special assignment [email protected]



IT was going to be out of many, one epic Jamaican experience, as its name creatively and provocatively promised. Outameni Experience, a ‘Patwatised’ play on the Jamaican national motto — Out of Many, One People — was designed to take visitors on a cultural and historic journey, meandering through time and space; a visual recount of the pain and triumphs of the Jamaican people covering 500 years from pre-slavery to Independence and beyond.
No one could have expected that an entity so nobly tasked would have found itself just over 50 years of that Independence so mired in controversy, in company with, of all things, the National Housing Trust (NHT), another bedrock of Jamaican genius and poor people’s hope for affordable shelter.
Ironically, the NHT got involved with Outameni — which is located at Orange Grove, Trelawny — when the housing agency was tossing around ideas as to what gift it could further present Jamaica as the nation commemorated its 50th anniversary of Independence in 2012.
But the germ of the idea of government intervention in the entity belongs to former Prime Minister Bruce Golding, who tossed it to his then Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett, who in turn flung it to new Tourism Minister Dr Wykeham McNeill after general elections, before it ended up in the lap of Easton Douglas’ NHT Board.
Amidst the raging controversy over the purchase of the financially ailing Outameni for $180 million, the Jamaica Observer, relying on top-level sources close to the drama, attempted to piece together the puzzle that has rocked the People’s National Party (PNP) Administration.
Here now is the anatomy of what some are insisting is a scandal:
Outameni bleeding red ink
• On July 30, 2011, Lennie Little-White, executive chairman and chief conceptualiser of Outameni Experience, alerted Golding to the dire situation facing the company which had been bleeding red ink profusely.
By then, the State-run Jamaica Development Bank (JDB) had cut its own losses and run, writing off $80 million of investment in the loss-making entity.
Capital and Credit Merchant Bank (CCMB) had indicated it would foreclose on its mortgages by disposing of the assets it held as collateral.
Little-White, known widely for his successful Mediamix film outfit that produced the steamy local soap Royal Palm Estate, was now a desperate man.
Little-White and his team had dreamt hard and came up with what they thought was nothing short of a Jamaican winner.
Outameni Experience comprised ‘villages’ depicting the various ethnic groups, including the earliest inhabitants of Jamaica, the Tainos, who were mistakenly called Arawaks, and the later arrivants from Europe, Africa and Asia.
They latterly added more contemporary Jamaican history-makers in Usain Bolt, the world’s fastest man, Veronica Campbell Brown, the most decorated female athlete, and Louise Bennett- Coverley, the cultural icon who popularised the dialect Patwa, in a feature called ‘Heroes Walk’.
Outameni’s parent company, Orange Valley Holdings Limited, had assets including 9.1 acres of land; the 300-year-old Orange Grove Great House; and the builtattraction which David deLisser and Associates valued at a total of $331 million in November 2012.
This was the collateral held by Capital and Credit.
The JDB owned US$500,000 of preference shares, the amount it wrote off. Orange Valley Holdings was the sole owner of the built-attraction (motion pictures, props, multimedia equipment, works of art, costumes, intellectual property and the like) whose replacement value was put at $8 million.
By the time he wrote his July 30 letter to Golding, Little-White was looking at US$989,464 in loans and interest accruing at upwards of nine per cent per annum.
Recoverable expenses outstanding as at that date were a mere J$3,088,859 and US$4,174. The story, as the ancestors used to say, had ‘come to bump’. One of the earliest signs of trouble was the decision to close the attraction on some days of the week.
The staff complement of 50 full-time employees had dropped to 35 and falling.
Little-White was staring down the barrel and there was very little he could do about it.
We must save Outameni, Golding to Bartlett
• Little-White sent out an SOS.Golding, himself a believer in the concept of the project and knowing moreover that a prime minister’s burden is about more than the cash the Government has in its coffers, arranged a tour of the complex, accompanied by Bartlett.
At the end of the visit, he told Little-White he’d see what he could do, if anything.
• On October 10, 2011, Golding wrote to Bartlett, saying: “You accompanied me on my recent tour of the Outameni Experience. You are aware of the financial challenges that the venture faces.
The attached copy of a letter from Mr Lennie Little- White dated 30th July, 2011 highlights the dilemma.
“I had previously sought further intervention of the Development Bank of Jamaica but this was stymied by issues relating to financial viability, especially since the operation is already heavily leveraged.
A more creative solution needs to be found.
“It seems to me that the venture needs to be reconfigured, repackaged and re-capitalised with new investors and a new approach to marketing.
“It would be a terrible loss to see this attraction fold, being one of only a few that portray Jamaica’s history and indigenous culture. Your ministry, along with the Ministry of Industry, Investment and Commerce, Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture, Urban Development Corporation and the Development Bank of Jamaica should consult to see what can possibly and reasonably be done to save this attraction from collapse.”
Elections intervene; P J Patterson, Kenneth Hall send testimonials
• Nothing eventful seemed to have happened between October and December 2011 when general elections were called and the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) lost to Portia Simpson Miller’s PNP. A new tourism minister in Dr Wykeham McNeill took over.
But Little-White and his people continued to press the Outameni issue, receiving some impressive testimonials.
• On March 11, 2012, professor of social history, Verene Shepherd of the University of the West Indies Institute for Gender and Development Studies, sounded the alarm to Education Minister Ronnie Thwaites:
“I write on my own behalf, let me stress, to express astonishment at the news that Outameni may have to close.
I recall how pleased I was when it opened.
It struck me then that Outameni was doing what the Jamaica National Heritage Trust should have been doing! I have been to many countries and observed their heritage sites and I have been struck by the efforts to recreate and showcase ‘living history’, especially in places like the USA and the UK.
“Outameni is the only attraction in Jamaica that tries to have a vibrant, exciting and interactive method of showcasing our history and I hope that your ministry will do all it can to preserve it and prevent it from closing.
In fact, the Government of Jamaica should develop a partnership with Mr Lennie Little-White, the conceptualiser, so that Outameni can remain open.
“I have visited the site on three occasions, last time with staff and students from the UWI. It was amusing to see adults ‘talk back’ to the Tainos and enslaved Africans! We as teachers have difficulty getting the history across to our students in an engaging way, but they come alive when they see it played out before their eyes... If we get rid of Outameni, and with Caribbean history not being widespread in our schools, Jamaica will continue on its backward journey into historical forgetfulness.”
• On March 14, Thwaites received another letter, this time from no less than former Prime Minister P J Patterson: “Outameni Experience was conceived primarily as an attraction in the tourism sector, but its patronage has come primarily from our educational institutions — from kindergarten to tertiary.
That reflects the yearning of our teachers and students to learn more about the history and traditions of our nation.
“The fact that Outameni Experience displays the best of our culture and chronicles Jamaica’s history in an interactive presentation, makes it unique as a cultural and educational exposé that celebrates our diverse ethnicity and our development from a colonial outpost to an independent nation-state.
“The recent addition of a ‘Heroes Walk’ that pays homage to our outstanding athletes and cultural icons, widens its appeal and provides another avenue for educational awareness about our heroes.
“Given its acceptance in the marketplace and the public desire to expand the frontiers of awareness about our past, every effort should be made to preserve it as an important teaching tool for education, while still remaining a valuable asset to the tourism industry.”
• On the same day, yet another letter turned up on Thwaites’ desk, this time from former Governor General Sir Kenneth Hall: “I have learned, with alarm, that the Outameni Experience is in imminent danger of closure due to the major challenges the programme has been facing since 2011.
For my part, I would consider such closure an irreplaceable loss to the educational and cultural fabric of Jamaica.
The Outameni Experience was conceived of and built by the directors as a monument to celebrate our history and culture through dance, drama, theatre, film and architecture.
“To the best of my knowledge, there are no comparable educational tools in Jamaica or in the Englishspeaking Caribbean capable of demonstrating the complexity of the Jamaican experience.
At its best, it will provide the participants with an in-depth understanding of what it was like to live through the various stages of our cultural and historical evolution.
“I am also of the view that it will motivate students at our tertiary institutions, such as Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts, to pursue their courses of study with the assurance that they would find creative opportunities for employment after graduation... “Based on my own visit to Outameni Experience,
I am appealing to you to use your good offices to ensure that this unique contributor to the Jamaican education system will be retained for future generations.”
An Emancipation Park in the West
• On March 20, 2012, still conscious that Outameni was faced — like the Tainos — with extinction, Bartlett, now Member of Parliament, wrote to McNeill telling him about Golding’s letter and imploring him to take up the matter:
“Further to letter from former Prime Minister Bruce Golding requesting that I coordinate with two other ministries a programme to address the issues of Outameni, I write to indicate that the co-ordination had actually begun, but was overtaken by the events of December 29 (elections).
I urge a continued effort on your part as minister of tourism and entertainment, as well as that of your colleague in ensuring that the valuable cultural experience of Outameni be preserved to be the national treasure that it really is.”
• The Jamaica Observer did not ascertain what McNeill did with Bartlett’s letter, but somewhere between March and November 2012, Little-White approached the NHT for assistance to save the project. It was fortuitous.
A subcommittee of the NHT board had been established to come up with an idea to mark the 50th anniversary of Jamaica’s Independence, buoyed by spectacular images of Jamaican athletes, led by Bolt and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce thrashing the world on the blazing tracks of the 2012 London Olympics and the Independence Village which was drawing thousands of Jamaicans nightly to Independence Park.
At first, the committee came up with the idea of replicating the wildly popular Emancipation Park in the West. The park is notable for Laura Facey-Cooper’s nude statue of freed slaves with sizeable genitalia that almost tore Jamaica apart in a controversy as yet unmatched for the passion it stirred, including the current one over Outameni. The park idea was scuttled because it was going to be too expensive, given the astronomical cost of land. Then came Little-White.
• On November 7, 2012, the NHT board received Little- White’s offer to purchase the Outameni Experience and immediately liked the concept, thinking it would be a good fit for a 50th anniversary gift to Jamaica. But members frowned on the offer when they heard that its value was $311 million.
But before throwing it out altogether, three members — Chairman Easton Douglas, Managing Director Cecile Watson, who would later be chopped from the Trust in another controversy, and General Manager Donald Moore — hopped onto a Jamaica Defence Force helicopter and did an aerial tour of the area.

[evanovitch]

'I Never Pocketed A Cent', Says Outameni Operator After $180 Million Sale

'I Never Pocketed A Cent', Says Outameni Operator After $180 Million Sale

arlene Brown, Assistant News Editor - Radio

KINGSTON, Jamaica:
Former operator of the Outameni Experience, Lennie Little-White, says he did not receive a cent of the $180 million that the National Housing Trust (NHT) paid for the property.

Little- White who insists that the bailout was not politically motivated, says the entire sum was paid over to Capital and Credit Merchant Bank to clear debts he had incurred.

Little-White has also blasted the Opposition for criticizing the Government’s decision to write off an additional $80 million liability to Outameni.

He has accused the JLP of classism, questioning why ‘black people’ shouldn't get Government help.

Speaking earlier, Opposition Spokesman on Finance, Audley Shaw, refused to be drawn into an argument with the former Outameni boss.

But according to Shaw, whether or not Little-White received the funds in hand is irrelevant.

He said it was still $180 million of NHT contributors’ hard-earned money which paid the bill.

[evanovitch]

if his debt was paid off i fail to see how he can say he didn't pocket a cent….matter of semantics