Power Ball lottery boost for WI board

Yesterday, president of the WICB Ken Gordon said his board has embarked on a massive Power Ball Lottery system which is expected to move the board from an entity of losses to one in which revenue can be generated.

He stressed that the Power Ball Lottery system will be launched in Jamaica soon and will be followed by similar briefings here in Trinidad and Tobago as well as in the Leeward Islands. It is hoped also that it will be staged in neighbouring Barbados — but arrangements are still being made to have it finalised.

Gordon says it will soon be a Caribbean-wide lottery expected to become operational at the end of April this year.

In the past, the board suffered huge losses until a minor restructure of the WICB’s managerial structure brought about a change. It was also released that this restructuring has been assisted by a finance committee.

According to Gordon the new restructuring has already reduced the board’s targeted operating expenses for the year by more than US$3 million, while the board has begun seeing a dramatic change in controlling costs.

The board had recorded a massive loss of US$1.8 million between the period October and December 2004 — a reduction of the results the year before.

In October to December last year the losses were further reduced to US$681,000 and it is hoped to be on the decline even further.

However Gordon said that despite the reduction in the amount of losses, the board was still in a cash bind.

He said the revenue raising plan will partner a regional cricket development programme which is already well on the way.