It has recently been reported in the Jamaican media that Chris Armond, the chief executive officer at Caymanas Park, Jamaica, has resigned to take up a lucrative position as technical adviser to the T&T Racing Authority (TTRA) and Betting Levy Board (BLB) in mid-February. Local sources have revealed that his annual remuneration package is $1,200,000.
This enormous pay package and the manner in which he was engaged raise a number of questions. For those who don't know the man, Armond was brought to Trinidad as CEO of the Arima Race Club (ARC) from 1998 to 2001, where his main achievement was complicating the conditions of races to the point where an attorney was needed to interpret them. He then moved to the Barbados Turf Club as CEO, a post which he held for a few years.
The question on the lips of all racing people is where will the funds to pay Armond come from? Will stakes to owners be reduced by $1,200,000? Or will Ken Ogeer, the current CEO of the ARC, be replaced and his salary used to subsidise the largesse being offered to Armond? Will breeders' premiums and subsidies to the already beleaguered local breeding industry be further reduced to pay Armond?
Or has Minister of Trade and Industry Stephen Cadiz promised Derek Chin, the chairman of the TTRA, a special subsidy to pay Armond out of some special vote in his ministry? These are just a few of the questions that Chin will have to answer on his selection of Armond as his technical adviser.
Jeffery Abraham
Curepe