Audley Boyd, Assistant Sport Editor

( L - R ) Stewart, McIntosh

CONCERNS RAISED by chairman of the Jamaica Football Federation's (JFF) technical committee, Howard McIntosh, have triggered speculation that the FIFA Goal Project - the national football academy on which more than $35 million has already been spent as it nears completion, could be relocated to another site.

This follows an inspection by members of the top brass and technical staff of the JFF on Tuesday at the facility known as Munro Villas in St. Elizabeth.

Based on the tour, a report will be written and submitted to the JFF's board of directors, which is expected to make a decision at a meeting in St. Elizabeth next Saturday.

The JFF team that visited the site on Tuesday included all three vice- presidents, Dale Spencer, Bruce Gaynor and Raymond Anderson, treasurer Gary Sinclair, technical committee chairman Howard McIntosh and members Lincoln 'Happy' Sutherland and Clyde Jureidini, as well as St. James FA president Orville Powell, who is also a board member.

Construction responsibility

While Carvel Stewart, the chairman on CFC Construction and long-serving football executive who is responsible for the construction of the academy was fully supportive, other executives openly expressed displeasure and McIntosh criticised several factors relating to its secluded location in the hills, building costs and documentation.

"There seems to be more questions than answers and it has forced me now to seek a better understanding of the original concept of the academy," said McIntosh after inspecting the structure and looking at the site proposed for field usage. "Just having dorm rooms down here is not enough," he said. He added: "There's no signed agreement as yet. I don't know all the history, but I want to go back to the original concept of what the academy should have been.

"They have spent $22 million to acquire land here and it would have been zero cost ... based on a 99-year lease (for a site initially proposed in Portmore) and a proposal by the Government to look at G.C. Foster."

Continuing, he stated: "The fundamental question is why would you spend money to acquire land when you were getting land free? "The other concern has to do with distance away from urban centres and our national playing facilities. It took us four hours to get here we made two stops along the way."

It wasn't all doom and gloom though, as far as McIntosh was concerned.

Opportunities

"The whole environment is a plus and the linkages with Munro, one of the premier institutions in the country, and the opportunities for education," he said.

Ground was first broken for the Goal project at an area in front of the Portmore Mall in Portmore, St. Catherine, in 2003 under the Captain Horace Burrell-led JFF executive.

A week later, the sport's leadership changed hands at its election Congress and the direction shifted with a proposed site at G.C. Foster College, then Munro, which eventually got the nod.

With the recent change in administration on November 4 and a Burrell-led team back at the helm, the pendulum appears to be shifting again.

Stewart and Lovel Smith, owner and managing director of the firm dealing with the construction - Mandeville-based Lovel Smith Construction Company, conducted the tour of the academy, which is situated on a three-acre property.

It includes four two-storey buildings, two and a half of which were already built when the JFF purchased the property for $23 million from a private developer who had been setting up a villa.

Building cost is set at $22 million and each structure has four bedrooms equipped with a closet and bathroom.

Stewart revealed that "... what has been paid by FIFA on it is $35 million ... that's been spent so far. The JFF spent some minor amounts."

He also indicated that Harold Taylor, who is responsible for FIFA Goal Projects in the region, indicated that another US$400,000 was available for the project.

Provision has also been made for a presentation area for lectures, reception area, administrative offices, dining room, along with kitchen, pantry, office and staff changing facilities. Projections also include a water tank for each building.

In terms of the playing area, that's where Munro College fits in significantly, as it is expected to provide that space for the JFF to set up four fields or use its existing ones, according to discussions it had with the previous administration.

No written agreement

Concerning the fields, there is no written agreement between the parties but the school's principal, Blandford Gayle, told The Gleaner "the deal is not dead" and the Munro and Dickenson Trust, which owns the land, is still open for negotiations.

Stewart, brought on board initially to assist in choosing the project site - with the G.C. Foster College also in the running at the time - explained that "Dr. Paul Auden, a board member of Munro, had made the proposal to the JFF in writing. Munro had made an offer to the JFF to lease the entire 22 acres."

He noted how over time things had changed to the purchasing of a permanent base on private property in front of the school while they were still exercising an option to lease the land for field purposes under "symbiotic" terms.

This included setting up a catchment area from which water would be pumped for irrigation purposes to the fields, as well as educational opportunities for players in camp benefiting from tuition, as well as the school's footballers partici-pating in lectures at the academy.

There are two other institutions within close proximity - Hampton High for girls and Bethlehem College.

"I do not support relocating the academy, I think we should finish what we have here," stated Stewart, while noting the decision was not his. "The academy is an asset of the JFF."

He added: "At the moment a review is being done ... If we go with what we have here now it will take about four months with payment and focus, because contractors need confidence."

The project has twice been stalled because Smith was not paid as scheduled but both the JFF and Munro have benefited through the reciprocal arrangement before, while the women's team camped at Munro.

According to Gayle: "We're still open for this type of relationship if the current administration is interested.

"As far as we are concerned it was for the JFF to sign a lease ... for land on which the playing fields were to be sorted out. It had not got to the point where we signed off."

The Munro principal added: "The current administration must speak with the Munro and Dickenson Trust. We are very enthused to support the national programme. We find it very important. If the current administration puts a proper proposal to the Trust, the Trust is open to discussion."