...the numbers business is not only popular and a cultural norm ...but is one of the biggest contributors to the Bahamian economy ...says - business consultant, Paul Major

Gambling Debate Intensifies


By: Theo Sealy & Rogan Smith
The Bahama Journal



Two top clergymen, a leading hotelier, a business consultant and a college professor locked horns tighter than ever last night over the controversial gambling issue.

Retired Anglican Archbishop Drexel Gomez, Bahamas Christian Council (BCC) President Dr. Ranford Patterson, Kerzner International VP of Public Affairs & Retail Services Ed Fields, business consultant, Paul Major and educator and civil activist, Margo Blackwell all participated in a Jones Communications Network (JCN) town meeting series at the Harry C. Moore library where they each took turns highlighting the benefits or pitfalls of gambling.

The panel was split.

Opponents argued that gambling was destructive and against God’s will, while proponents touted the economic benefits that could be gained from its legalisation.

The Christie administration has announced plans to hold a referendum before the end of the year so that Bahamians can decide whether they want gambling legalised.

The BCC has repeatedly stressed that it is “diametrically opposed” to gambling and it didn’t stray from that premise last night.

“To engage in this gambling . . . one is going counter to what Jesus stands for and for what the church is here to promote. We believe that gambling is, in its final analysis, an affront to God,” Archbishop Gomez said.

“Our problem in the church is we have been compromised by our members in that so many of our members gamble and so many of our members do not really believe what the church teaches us because if they really believed, they would apply it in our lives. So, there are a lot of persons who belong to the church who participate in gambling because they aren’t putting into practice the teachings of the gospel. Gambling produces social dislocation. That is not disputed even by persons who engage in gambling.”

Mr. Major, meantime, said the church cannot legislate morality.

“It comes down to a matter of civil liberty – people deciding what they want to do with their disposable income,” he said.

“The only ones who don’t benefit from gambling are the government and the citizens who don’t gamble. At this stage in our development and enlightenment we should not be so concerned about whether Bahamians gamble.”

Dr. Patterson said with gambling, “we can only lose, not win.”

“The negative effects outweigh benefits. It can destroy a family. Every day in our ministries we are confronted with persons who are marginalised, persons who are experiencing loss, persons whose lives are falling through the cracks and that is why we feel so strongly about this because we see the devastation. That’s where our passion comes from,” Dr. Patterson said.

“Think of the devastation that we now see and the proliferation of the web shops. We believe it’s only going to get worse and our people are going to suffer as a result of it.”

But, one audience member chastised the church for its weak arguments on the controversial issue.

“I have been listening to a lot of debates on this gambling subject and it seems that the church is relying on the argument of morality. As it stands right now those arguments are not standing up very well against the arguments that these other panellists are presenting. Why isn’t the church presenting strong arguments about the economic and social impacts of the numbers business? These are the issues we need to present as opposed to what is morally incorrect,” she said.

Mr. Major, meantime, sought to dispel the notion that the ‘house’ always wins.

He told the panel and attendees that two number houses “went broke” because they couldn’t pay out winnings.

“On average 60 to 70 per cent of winnings go back out,” he said.

When challenged to substantiate his claims by providing the statistics, Mr. Major responded, “Trust me, trust me.”

He later said the numbers business has attracted 150,000 account holders.

He said 120,000 of those individuals have online accounts, while the remaining 30,000 individuals are walk-in customers to various web shops throughout the country.

Mr. Major suggested that the numbers business is not only popular and a cultural norm, but is one of the biggest contributors to the Bahamian economy.

Ms. Blackwell, careful to “stay far away from moral and social values as possible,” said she felt that Bahamians are being denied a right to gamble.

“I am a young lady who has lived her whole life being discriminated against in an independent Bahamas by a constitution that allows people who are not Bahamian to do something in my country that I am not allowed to do. I have a real problem with that,” she said.

Mr. Fields, meantime, said the gambling issue is not about its decriminalisation, but its liberalisation.

Churches have over the years demonised gambling in The Bahamas, but many have turned to major resorts for donations even though a good chunk of their revenue comes from casino dollars.

Mr. Fields said in his 16 years at the Paradise Island resort, he has received a letter from every single denomination in The Bahamas requesting donations.

He later questioned the difference between church raffles and the numbers business.

“Either you are hot or you are cold. The reality is that if I buy a raffle ticket my intent is to win over someone else…we are in a quagmire trying to justify this thing. Either we like them all or we wipe them all out. It cannot be a case of juggling. It cannot be that it is okay for the church to gamble through raffling but it is not okay for Bahamians to do the same through gambling at numbers houses,” Mr. Fields said.

“Yes numbers is illegal and perhaps there is a problem with the concept that because it is illegal on the books the donation from that illegal gambling is a problem. But there is not a problem with the church asking donations from an entity that has legal gambling. So gambling is okay if it is legal? That must be what the message is.”

Mr. Fields said if Bahamians vote to legalise the numbers business, the government could take a percentage of the money and set up counselling for addicts.

Gambling proponents say if the numbers business is legalised it could fund various government initiatives and provide millions of dollars to the public purse.

“It would do well for us here in the country if we go ahead with legalising the numbers business. It can contribute significantly to health care, sporting and education, overall helping with national development. We need to move forward with this and try to look at the positive side of how beneficial gambling can be, economically, to The Bahamas,” attorney Wallace Rolle said.

JCN CEO Wendall Jones moderated the town hall meeting.

August 10, 2012

Jones Bahamas

Caribbean Blog International

To gamble or not to gamble: ...as it now stands, gambling, although illegal for Bahamians, is now so prevalent ...and has been for so many years, that to let it flourish while continuing the debate whether it should be outlawed ...is making a fool of the law

The Devil Has Had It Too Long, Turn It To Good

 Tribune242 Editorial

TO GAMBLE or not to gamble — that is the question. In The Bahamas today it is a question that has already been answered by a large number of Bahamians without need of a referendum.

A referendum has only become necessary because of government’s desire to avoid a clash with the churches, particularly the strong Baptist vote, which itself is now divided. Government wants the bitter chalice of who decides on legalisation to pass to the “Voice of the People” – hence the referendum.

As Minister Lavern Turner, whose letter is published on this page today, points out gambling has “grown from the number man to the web shop.” Now that people can gamble on the web, gambling cannot be stopped, he wrote.

“The permission was already given,” he said, “when the web shop obtained a licence, paid National Insurance and hired workers. The people already have the legal right and it should not be taken from them.”

We also agree with the reverend gentleman that now is not the time to open casino doors to Bahamians. The minister pointed out the seriousness of the economic downturn and the hundreds of Bahamians without jobs – “light bills, water bills, rent, mortgages, school uniforms and fees, education, food, car upkeep and other more important responsibilities take priority over casino gambling. Entertainment at that level can wait!” he said.

It is true, gambling does reduce the moral fibre of a community by making people believe that by the throw of the dice they can get something for nothing; it can destroy families, and turn a pathological gambler into a destitute human wreck. A gambler never learns that the odds are stacked in favour of the house, never for him. In the end he is the loser.

The Tribune was against the introduction of betting at Hobby Horse Hall many years ago because of the harm it did to the family unit. It was the late Nurse Alice Hill-Jones, who came to The Tribune to report that whenever Hobby Horse Hall was in season and betting was in full swing, babies arriving at the government clinics were undernourished — their milk money was going to the race track. The fathers were spending their meagre wages every Friday afternoon betting on the trifecta.

Today the government has no choice but to legalise gambling. The people have already spoken. Already the numbers and the web shops have defied the police. No sooner are they closed than they are open again. If gambling is denied, then everything has to close. And the gambling houses have shown they plan to go nowhere without a fight.

It was the same story with alcohol. Prohibition became so dangerous that in the end alcohol had to be legalised. This did not mean that alcohol was beneficial, in many ways its abuse does more harm to the human body than many of the drugs that are still illegal. However, alcohol is now within the law. Gone are the smuggling days when much of the alcohol was contaminated, leaving people, if not dead, then blind.

The religious can find the answer to their quandary in the soliloquy of the Grand Inquisitor in Dostoevsky’s Brothers Karamazov where the pros and cons of God’s gift of free will is argued. Many condemned such a gift believing it too great a responsibility for weak man. Others saw it as a great gift enabling each human being to accept or reject morality, and to individually decide whether to follow good or evil. God’s gift of free will was to the individual, not to his pastor. The most that a pastor can do is to advise his flock and try to lead them on what he considers the right path — even going after the one who strays. But that is the limit of his responsibility. The final exercise of free will is for the individual. If the individual strays — as suggests pastor Turner in his letter – the “responsibility to deliver them belongs to the Holy Spirit, so take the load off your head, their blood is not on your hands…” A good bit of advice. Each person is judged individually by the extent of his knowledge and the exercise of his own free will in making a final decision based on that knowledge.

Ministers who are against gambling are only responsible for their own congregations — and only so far as they can guide the free will of their members. However, they have no right to even consider trying to impose their beliefs and will on a nation. Each man has his own beliefs.

Of course, there will be laws and if an individual’s free will leads him down the wrong path, then the law will be there to punish him.

But as it now stands, gambling, although illegal, is now so prevalent and has been for so many years, that to let it flourish while continuing the debate whether it should be outlawed is making a fool of the law.

Either make it legal and control it, or declare it illegal and shut it down.

In our opinion the added expense of a referendum is not necessary — it’s just an easy way out enabling government to avoid the wrath of religious ministers and the loss of the Baptist vote at election time.

Those who believe that gambling is evil and against their religious beliefs won’t gamble, and those who see nothing wrong with it will continue as they are doing now. The only difference is that the government will tax their foolishness.

As one religious minister once said: “Give me the money so that I can put it to good use — it’s been in the devil’s hands too long!”

August 07, 2012

Tribune242 

The Slave Mentality in The Bahamas is Alive and Well

Bahamians have a slave mentality

By DEHAVILLAND MOSS

Crime is out of control; it’s the master’s fault, aka the government. Illegal immigration is out of control; it is the master’s fault, aka the government. The economy is bad; it’s the master’s fault, aka the government. The master will fix the problem. He knows best.

But what are “you” doing about it? We should know by now that the change starts with us. During the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade, Africans were illegally sold as slaves. Many of these Africans ended up in the Caribbean and thus were forced into a new way of life.

The indoctrination of Africans (Blacks) into mental slavery and European culture continues even today. The celebration of Guy Fawkes Day, Halloween and that “foreign is better” are just a few examples of the former in The Bahamas. We as Black Bahamians are mentally enslaved and even though we are free physically, we face some of the most dangerous times in our history. One hundred and seventy-seven years after the proclamation was read to free slaves in the British colonies, Bahamians still continue to have a slave mentality.

Slaves in The Bahamas worked on small plantations when compared to other Caribbean islands, and the treatment of Bahamian slaves was much better than their Caribbean counterparts. James Stephen, an abolitionist wrote, “the provisions and stock raised on the plantations did not provide the remuneration received by planters in other colonies, ‘but to slaves the effects were ease, plenty, health and the preservation and increase of their numbers, all in a degree, quite beyond example in any other part of the West Indies”. (Source from The Story of The Bahamas by Paul Albury, chapter 14, p126). In my view, this explains the basis of the way that we act toward our “Master” today.

Bahamian slaves accepted their master as a good person and viewed him favorably. Our Caribbean counterparts were treated more harshly than us and as a result they had a fundamental distrust of their master. Could this explain why they are more aggressive than us and the fact that our attitude is more laissez-faire?

Since 1967, in The Bahamas, the black master (government) replaced the white master (government). There was a changing of the guard, but most Bahamians have not seen the kind of progress that is to be expected. Black Bahamians in particular still do not possess the majority of the land; we still do not own a major hotel and we are still second-class citizens in our own country. We now have Black masters as our gatekeepers but they are continuing the historical trend of our demise, albeit in the same subtle nature. Yet we elect the same people over and over. When will the cerebral revolution come?

Look at the way that our country is run with little or no objection from Bahamians. The government sold BTC and there were only about 1,000 marchers on Bay Street. In fact, Minister of Labour Dion Foulkes literally squawked when asked about the effectiveness of the march for BTC. Lawyers illegally sold land owned by Arawak Homes to unsuspecting Bahamians. Due to the large scale of Bahamians who were defrauded, there should have been major campaigns initiated by Bahamians in protest of this. The government refuses to do all it can to help curb our crime and immigration problems and its policies have failed miserably, specifically over the last two decades. Additionally, government policies have caused the price of land in The Bahamas to soar so high that the average Bahamian can no longer afford to buy land (except for those in Mackey Yard); and yet Bahamians sit back and do nothing. Sadly, we still believe in the old slave adage that “Master (aka the government) knows best”.

Listening to the talk shows daily, concerns by Bahamians appear to be on the rise. They call in and seem to expect more accountability from the government representatives. This is a good thing and this type of activity on a wide scale can certainly help break this slave mentality that we continue to be suffering from. I feel proud as a Bahamian when callers suggest that the issues affecting us should be looked at for what they are worth. Forget party lines. For too long, we have been using our party biases and not looking at issues from a nationalistic point of view. We must realize that when our ancestors were enslaved, the underlying tone would have been to regain freedom for all in the British colonies and this bode well for all involved.

Bahamians by heart are not a fighting people when it comes to challenging “the master”. In fact, the only time I can say with certainty that Bahamians would come together and fight the master is when he “messes with their pay”. From the Burma Road Riot on June 1st, 1942 to the teacher’s general strike in the mid 80s, Bahamians came together in solidarity to protest wage disputes. In fact, before the Burma Road Riot, even the American workers who were earning higher wages were agitating for the Bahamian workers’ wages to be increased. Foreigners were given preferential treatment even back then. Does this sound familiar? In the case of the general teachers’ strike, the government of the day said that the Treasury was broke. Yet, after the teachers’ salary was increased, then Prime Minister Sir Lynden Pindling and his Cabinet increased the salary of all members of Parliament.

If the government had told BTC workers that they would be receiving pay cuts you would have seen a different outcome from the employees. Contract after contract can be given to foreign contractors without a whimper of dissatisfaction from Bahamians. Let me go on record as saying that I was utterly surprised that the present government was able to take overtime pay away from customs and immigration officers with virtually very little opposition from the Bahamas Public Service Union membership.

The recent debacle of the government in the Mackey Yard sub-division speaks again to our slave mentality. Here we are as Bahamians are just sitting back and allowing the government to do what it wants to. Let the “master” handle it is the conclusion of many Bahamians. There are Bahamians though, whose minds have bypassed this slave mentality, but these numbers are infinitesimal.

Just as the slave trade was supported by Africans themselves, who helped capture their own countryman for a few dollars, more we have replication going on in The Bahamas in 2011. Many in the remaining middle class in The Bahamas are utterly quiet as to the state of affairs because they are still getting their hefty salaries. They are still able to live their lives, buy what they want and travel when they want. In their eyes because they are not directly affected by these adverse policies, they choose to turn a blind eye. They are not speaking out and are allowing their “brothers” to be further humiliated and defrauded. In the same vain, thousands of people turned a blind eye to the slave master during the slave trade because they were thinking about self and not country.

The slave mentality in The Bahamas is alive and well and the time has come for Bahamians to open their eyes. We cannot just leave it in the hands of “the master” and hope and pray that the correct decisions will be made, and take for granted that we will always have bread to eat. Bahamians, we need to change our sorry, lethargic and lackadaisical attitude towards the myriad policy decisions that affect us. We will continue to suffer as a people in our own country if we don’t.

As Disraeli, the great English statesman said, “Nurture your mind with great thoughts for you will never go any higher than you think”.

Jul 20, 2011

thenassauguardian

In waging a fight on the road to the gambling referendum ...the numbers men are doing more than attempting to legalize their businesses... ...They are challenging the role of the church in the modern Bahamas

The church vs. the numbers men: A fight for legitimacy

thenassauguardian editorial

The Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) and Free National Movement (FNM) have historically dared not cross the church for decades on the issue of gambling for Bahamians in The Bahamas.  Instead, both parties as governments turned away and did not see the numbers houses.

In recent years, with the rise of Internet technology and steely boldness, the numbers men of old and their new contemporaries came from the shadows and openly set up illegal shops in front of the political parties and police, declaring to Bahamians that they are now forces who will no longer accept being repressed.

The numbers bosses now sponsor charitable events, advertise and one has even donated openly to at least one government agency.

The Bahamas is a very protestant nation with the overwhelming majority of its people identifying themselves as Christians.  Churchgoing is high.  Consequently, the political parties have not wanted to face-off against a church that, for the most part, has been rabidly against gambling.

Despite this fear by our great political parties, the numbers bosses have now decided that it is time to demonstrate to the church of Christ and its Bahamian leaders that they do not fear them.  They have set up a lobby and have let it be known that $1.5 million will be spent in an advertising effort to win the referendum.  Via this act, they have declared opposition to the church.

The Bahamian church is not used to this direct a challenge.  It has historically been able to shout down adversaries on the gambling issue.  Now, with a referendum having been pledged, the church has an opponent.

The stakes are high for this referendum.  In our modern history the church has felt it had the upper hand on issues such as this.  A defeat here will lessen the perceived power of the church.  It would also demonstrate that well-funded lobbies on moral issues could win against the church in a public fight.

What would a defeated church do?  If it preaches to its members to vote against the legalization of gambling and those members overwhelmingly disobey their pastors, that act of defiance by Bahamians would demonstrate that though many sit in pews on Sundays, they do not listen to the people who speak from them with full regard.

In waging a fight in this referendum the numbers men are doing more than attempting to legalize their businesses.  They are challenging the role of the church in the modern Bahamas.

The pastors who like to make statements on this and that moral issue need to know that on the issue of gambling they are in a fight for legitimacy.  Certainly, if the church loses it will not be totally illegitimate and irrelevant.  It would just fall a notch in influence.  And the next time a group thinks about challenging the church, if it loses this referendum fight, that group won’t be as afraid, further expanding secularism in The Bahamas.

Aug 04, 2012

thenassauguardian editorial

Caribbean Blog International

The gambling referendum debate: ...Pastors are divided over the issue of legalizing gambling for Bahamians

Hall: Pastors divided on gambling issue

By Royston Jones Jr.
Guardian Staff Reporter
royston@nasguard.com

Bishop Simeon Hall, pastor of New Covenant Baptist Church, said last night that while he believes most pastors share the views of the Bahamas Christian Council (BCC) on gambling in principle, division exists on whether the industry should be regularized.

“The Christian Council is divided on the issue,” Hall told around 70 people in attendance during a panel discussion at his church on the upcoming gambling referendum.

The panelists included Wallace Rolle, an attorney; Ortland H. Bodie Jr., former attorney and host of the popular radio talk show ‘Real Talk Live’, and Cedric Moss of Kingdom Life Church.

“On the one hand you will find it difficult to find a Bible quote that speaks directly against gambling, and yet on the other  the basis for all forms of gambling is covetousness, which the scripture plainly speaks against.

“One church leader is on record as saying we should raise the issue [and] expose all sides, and let the Bahamian people make up their own minds.

“As a baptist, I understand and appreciate the baptist position as being against all games of chance, and yet in light of the reality of this activity, I believe something should be done to regularize this activity.”

However, President of the BCC Dr. Ranford Patterson said just over two weeks ago that the church is not divided over the issue of legalizing gambling.

Amid comments by controversial Baptist pastor Dr. Philip McPhee, suggesting that there are potential benefits in regards to regulating the industry, Patterson said McPhee is the only clergyman who appears to be at odds with the church’s anti-gambling position, and the religious community’s movement is gaining momentum.

“Every leader of the denominations I’ve spoken to is in support; every one, there is no uproar as far as I am concerned.”

He said he believed that successive governments’ lacked the decisiveness and leadership to tackle the issue and are partly responsible for the industry’s prevalence.

“If they had nipped it in the bud some time ago, it wouldn’t be here,” Hall said.

The Christie administration plans to bring a gambling referendum by December.

The ballot will only have to options: Establishing a national lottery or legalizing numbers houses.

If Bahamians vote in support of legalizing gambling then the government will tax the industry.

The government has not yet provided details on how a legalized numbers industry would work.

Prime Minister Perry Christie has said that if Bahamians vote against legalizing gambling, the government would strictly enforce the law.

Hall, who also spoke to The Nassau Guardian before the panel discussion, said he invited representatives of ‘We Care’, a coalition of web shop owners, but they declined because they did not desire any further press on the issue at this time.

He said he feels that ‘We Care’ has a right to publically express its views, but hoped that its representatives will be “responsible” in educating Bahamians on the pros and cons of a regularized industry.

Spokesperson for ‘We Care’ and CEO of Island Luck Sebas Bastian has said that the coalition will invest around $1.5 million to educate Bahamians on industry-related issues over the next few months, but has insisted that web shop owners do not intend to battle local churches in the lead-up to the gambling referendum.

August 01, 2012

thenassauguardian

Caribbean Blog International

Bishop Simeon Hall - Senior Pastor of New Covenant Baptist Church says that he welcomes the issue of regularising web shops being put to Bahamians ...in the form of a referendum

Baptist Bishop Supports Regularising Web Shops- Town Hall Meeting On Gambling Tonight

By Korvell Pyfrom
The Bahama Journal


As the government gears up to hold a referendum to further explore regularising the web shop industry, a leading pastor said he welcomes the issue being put to Bahamians in the form of a referendum.

New Covenant Baptist Church Senior Pastor Bishop Simeon Hall said although it is the Church’s position to oppose any steps toward immorality, he has formed a pragmatic position on the issue of regularising web shops.

Bishop Hall said that the reality is that the practice has been happening for years and by not regularising the industry, the government continues to lose millions of dollars in revenue annually.

“Mostly, the people who gamble are those already marginalised with chronic financial and social problems. Yet, I believe the government is correct in seeking to regularise this industry and all that is involved in this trade should be exposed,” Bishop Hall said.

Bishop Hall said that even though the church and the government may have opposing views on the issue, dialogue between the two must continue and he added that both sides have very compelling reasons for their positions.

“I believe that the church’s position is clear. What do you expect the church to say other than we are against it? In principal most clergy people would be against it,” he said. “But it is a multifaceted approach on the one hand, the church is saying we are against it, but on the other hand, we recognise that government cannot just allow these practices and this industry to go on without collecting some form of tax or revenue from it.”

“I believe it is right for the government to put the issue out to the Bahamian people to see where we stand. Both the government and web shop owners have a responsibility to educate the Bahamian people on all sides about gambling. Gambling in our Bahamas is as common as conch fritters. There are some Bahamians who will continue to gamble regardless of what the outcome of the proposed referendum would be. The government is in a tenable position to regularise this multi-million dollar enterprise.”

Bishop Hall will moderate a town hall meeting on the issue of regularising web shops at New Covenant Baptist Church on East-West Highway tonight at 7:30.

Panelists will include Pastor Cedric Moss, Gaming Board Chairman Dr. Andre Rollins, Attorney Wallace Rolle and Free National Movement (FNM) Deputy Leader Loretta Butler-Turner.

Members of the public are invited to attend.

31 July, 2012

Jones Bahamas

Caribbean Blog International

The Gambling Referendum Debate: ...Ed Fields - Kerzner International senior vice president says that he agrees with Baha Mar vice president - Robert Sands on casino gambling for Bahamians should not be rushed... ...the focus should be on liberalising the “numbers business” first

'Numbers First, Before Casinos'


By AVA TURNQUEST
Tribune Staff Reporter
aturnquest@tribunemedia.net

BAHAMIANS should focus on liberalising the “numbers business” first before attempting to addressing the issue of casino gambling, according to Ed Fields, Kerzner International senior vice president.

While he noted it was also an “overdue” issue, Mr Fields said he sided with Baha Mar vice president Robert Sands that casino gambling should not be rushed.

“We need to go down that road, whether we’re going down it two months from now or three months, we should be doing it.

“It should be a basic question on do you agree with liberalizing gambling for Bahamians,” he said. “Now once that question is answered then the powers that be can start examining what we should be doing (next). Let’s legalize it, let’s tax the heck out of it, let’s take some of those tax dollars and put it to helping people who might have an addiction, let’s take the money and put it into education and arts and culture.”

The contentious debate over whether or not the country should liberalize “web shop” gaming and establish a national lottery has stormed since it was announced that the longstanding issue would be put to a referendum before the end of the year.

There has also been criticism of the scope of the proposed referendum, with former prime minister Hubert Ingraham stating that the referendum should address gaming in its entirety.

The Bahamas Christian Council has accused the government of rushing a gambling referendum, while some local pastors have called for all gambling participation – including the participation of tourists in casinos – to be outlawed.

While he said he could not comment on the referendum’s timeline, Mr Fields said a resolution on the issue was “long overdue”.

“We took literally 50 years to get to where we are today with the institution of Bahamians not being allowed to gamble in casinos. We can’t just overnight change that paradigm without there being some ramifications. So I ‘m supportive of it but I think it’s something that we have to take one step at a time.”

“Liberalizing the numbers business,” he said, “is something we are doing now and so let’s get that off the plate and then we can have a discussion about casino gambling in terms of how you qualify to gamble.”

In response to claims that liberalisation would engender a rise in addiction and other social ills, Mr Fields said that taxes would provide funding for counselling and related help.

“Not everyone who gambles is addicted to gambling, it’s a small percentage like every other activity, sex, shopping, eating, not everyone is a kleptomaniac,” he said.

“Right now as I speak there is zero dollars that is being committed to counselling people who are addicted to gambling, so let’s just assume that there are a number of people who are addicted to gambling, well if we were taxing the numbers business or the gambling business then we could allocate a percentage of that to counselling and helping.

He added: “It cant be worse than what we have now.”

July 30, 2012

Tribune242

Caribbean Blog International