Present the financial statements or face an injunction.
That is the stern warning from some members of the Barbados Road Tennis Association (BRTA), who are questioning what they deem to be a lack of transparency surrounding the BRTA financials under its current president, Frederick Blunt.
During a press conference held this week at the Deighton ‘Pa’ Roach Road Tennis Facility in Bush Hall, long-standing member Michael Harris Jr. called for clarity and justice.
“We are here to speak about the finances of the Barbados Road Tennis Association, where the President and his committee breached the constitution of the Barbados Road Tennis Association.
“First, they had an AGM (Annual General Meeting) where the President did not present audited financial statements as stated in the constitution of the Barbados Road Tennis Association.
“He (Blunt) promised that within three weeks he would present the audited financial statement, which he did not. It is almost eight to nine months and still no financial statement,” said Harris, while indicating that Blunt was informed about the matter in writing.
Joining Harris at the press conference were the godfather, of road tennis, Deighton ‘Pa’ Roach; former president of the Barbados Road Tennis Association, Philip ‘Foff’ Garner; and veteran champion player, Antonio “Lil Man” Daniel.
Besides the lack of clarity and transparency in how monies are being disbursed to officials who work at games, Harris also raised the alarm surrounding the legality and constitutionality of the former treasurer signing cheques on behalf of the association after demitting office.
“In the constitution, the President, the Treasurer, and the Assistant Secretary are supposed to sign cheques. They are the persons allowed within the constitution of road tennis. So, where there is a duly elected treasurer, I am questioning why the former treasurer [was] still signing [cheques],” stated Harris.
With the Government-run Barbados Road Tennis Open scheduled to commence tomorrow at the Deighton ‘Pa’ Roach Facility, Harris has called on the Minister of Sports, Charles Griffith, to intervene.
“I am also saying that if this sport intends to go to the Olympics or go further beyond these shores, then the Minister ought to take charge. We have to get the body and the head of Barbados road tennis right before we start pushing the sport nationally, and we need the Minister to intervene.
“There is a national islandwide road tennis on the horizon, which is put on by the National Sports Council, where the Minister is involved, so therefore, he is the best person to intervene in this matter.
“Today (Tuesday), I got a call from the Director of Sports (Neil Murrell) to have a meeting at 4:30 p.m. with Mr. Blunt, to resolve any matters, and Mr. Blunt refused to attend.”
Failing an amicable resolution, Harris has indicated that he would take the matter to the law courts. He also stated that a letter from a lawyer will be sent to the BRTA in the coming days. Failing that, Harris said that there will be an injunction against the BRTA to ensure that no road tennis will be played unless the financials are presented.
When contacted BRTA Blunt poured cold water on the accusations and stated that during the BRTA elections held last year in October, getting the finances audited was one of the main talking points.
However, he acknowledged that this is the first time in 65 years that the association will be audited and, therefore, the BRTA retained the services of an auditing firm to do the job. He also indicated that once complete, which will be sometime before the month is over, that report will be presented to the membership.
“A lot of members don’t understand what an audit is; they believe that you give the information to auditors and the next day they provide the information. All the information that they ask for, we give them. Nothing was held back.
“All of our accounting is above board. We have a final meeting with the auditors tomorrow (yesterday) to tie up any loose ends, and they have assured us that once that is done, within a week or so we will get the report,” said Blunt. (ML)
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