TT president Lue fires back at critics

Disgruntled affiliates are expressing concerns that the Jamaica Table Tennis Association (JTTA) has not had an annual general meeting (AGM) since Andrew Lue became president more than 18 months ago.

According to Lue, however, several issues are preventing the AGM from taking place and he insists steps are being taken to rectify the problems. He stated that the sport is still recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic.

He pointed out that contrary to the critics' accusations of a lack of communication on the matter, invitations were sent to all the affiliates, including new clubs that showed interest, but that the responses were insufficient to host a creditable AGM.

"At the moment we have no paid-up affiliates. We sent out a notice to affiliates to express their intentions to become affiliates or new affiliates and for others to register, but we didn't get a proper response. So we aren't able to hold the AGM.

"The AGM should have been held by the end of March, the latest, but the response has not been very good, so even if we had gone ahead and forced the AGM, we still would not have adequate membership. So we are giving people time to get themselves organised and put things in place," he stated.

Lue, who came to office in February 2021 in the heights of the pandemic, noted that several clubs were dysfunctional during the period and are gradually being revitalised.

"We had not gotten to the point where we had asked them to pay the fees. We just asked them to express their interest, in which case we would contact them and send them their forms," Lue said.

"The clubs are just getting back. We had the nationals in July and people are showing interest again, so I suspect that they will show much greater interest. Hopefully, we can get it all sorted and have the AGM very soon.

"We didn't get a good enough response at the time, so we are trying to remedy that by contacting them individually and arranging with them," he continued.

He expects to have a special general meeting (SGM) by late November and maintains that it is important to hold the AGM before year-end.

"There are also some constitutional issues that we would like to put on the agenda and get addressed," Lue said.

"So I am thinking that we should have a SGM by the end of November, which is only a couple of months away and before that we will be doing all the registrations.

"We will be using the next few weeks to get affiliates mobilised and active so we can push forward with the AGM," he said.