Three Canadians withdraw from crematorium venture due to government’s handling of negotiations.

Over the weekend, the CYW International team stated to the media, expressing their concerns over the breach of confidentiality that ultimately led to the leaking of their business proposal to the media.

The Canadian women of Antiguan descent who make up the CYW International team had been working on a project to construct a crematorium on Antigua and Barbuda to help alleviate the burden on the public cemeteries running out of space to bury loved ones.

The government had expressed its intention to see the construction of this crematorium for months. Still, the local funeral homes initially approached to assist but later backed out due to the facility’s high costs.

The CYW International team had been hopeful that they could bring this initiative to fruition, but the leaking of their business plan compromised the project’s integrity and publicly exposed sensitive information that was intended for the government’s eyes only, they reported told Observer Media Group.

The entrepreneurs felt that this act significantly undermined their trust in the project, and they could no longer execute this initiative with full confidence.

Furthermore, they claim that the lack of effective communication between the government and the CYW International team added to their frustration.

Despite their efforts to engage in constructive dialogue, the government officials’ responses to their proposals were frequently rejected through the media, leaving the team in a state of uncertainty.

The three Toronto-based women who make up the CYW International team had several decades of experience in the crematorium industry and were willing to invest whatever capital was needed to make the project a reality.

They had hoped to capitalize on the venture with US$3.5 million. However, the Prime Minister’s Chief of Staff, Lionel Hurst, rubbished those suggestions made by the investors and stated that the government’s assessments of the project’s profitability had led them to believe the women did not have sufficient capital or likely revenues to support the venture.

The government will now be searching for new investors to assist with their crematorium initiative, and the health minister has encouraged others interested in investing in a crematorium to submit their proposals to the government.

It is expected that amendments to facilitate the use of cremation in the country will go before Parliament soon.

The CYW International team hopes that lessons will be learned from this experience to ensure more positive outcomes for future investments.