Premier the Hon. R T Meade revealed in the Legislative Assembly meeting on January 22, 2013 that the revenue intake for the house raffle which was launched in September, 2011 was, “$83,453.00 plus $1,572.00 for a total of $85,136.00,” explaining that the $1,572 were stale dated checks. We note that the Premier’s total should be $85,125.
It was revealed earlier that the cost of the house was almost twice what was collected. In answer to the question, “What was the total sum of money spent to construct the house that was given as the prize for the Festival 50 House Raffle?” the Minister of Agriculture, Housing, Land and the Environment, Joseph (Easton) Taylor-Farrell responded. “The total sum of money spent to construct the house that was given as the prize for the Festival 50 House Raffle was EC$160,000.00.”
The 2-bedroom furnished house located in Lookout Estate, near Marguerita Bay, was put up for raffle initially to be completed and drawn at the end of the 2011 Festival on January 2, 2012. That deadline was pushed to Festival 50, December, 2012, because the sale was poor. Tickets were offered at EC$60 for one and EC$100 for two (approximately US$22.50 and US$37.50), available for sale from outlets/persons. The tickets were also available for sale in the UK and cost £15.00 for one and £25.00 for two.
The Montserrat Reporter, like in other circumstances and situations such as promoting Festival, offered that they should publish the information with the newspaper, which would offer a much better coverage, especially online as its readership covered the entire world, and not just the Diaspora, like the government’s website and its social media thrust. People would have been able to pay online. The raffle was open to anyone, it was a fund raiser!
Based on the money raised it would suggest that it took only 850 people purchased tickets, if every purchaser bought two tickets, or 1,418 persons at $60 each, but it is natural that the number of persons who bought would lie in between those two figures. More than 1,418 people visit The Montserrat Reporter’s website (www.themontserratreportr.com) each day.
