Dr. Andre Rollins, Chairman of The Gaming Board says that: ... there is more to be gained from a yes vote than a no vote in the upcoming referendum

Gaming Chairman Pushes Yes Vote

By The Bahama Journal




Chairman of The Gaming Board Dr. Andre Rollins indicated yesterday that there is more to be gained from a yes vote than a no vote in the upcoming referendum.

Dr. Rollins in a press release pushed the benefits of a yes vote for The Bahamas saying that the revenue generated from taxing the activity presents greater results for the country.

While Dr. Rollins acknowledges that it has taken far too long for any government to gather the will power to take legal action against web shop gaming in The Bahamas, he claims that it cannot be argued that 50-plus years is insufficient time to know whether or not something should be regulated or taxed for the benefit of our country and people.

“Based on the long history of Bahamian participation in games of chance and the recognition that historical legal restrictions precipitated the creation of illegal gaming enterprises, it is inevitable that the demand for such activity will persist beyond January 28 even in the face of a no vote,” he said.

“The difference is that the government will be under greater pressure to use its law enforcement resources to respond to illegal gaming – resources that are scarce and themselves under increasing pressure to address the scourge of violent crime affecting parts of our country,” he added.

According to the chairman, regularised web shop gaming is critical for the country if it wishes to maintain its standing as a responsible financial services jurisdiction compliant with international anti-money laundering and anti-terrorism best practices.

“Our nation’s financial regulatory regime and the reporting requirements it imposes on businesses engaged in financial services, cannot be effective if it ignores a large group of businesses which conduct significant financial transactions,” he said.

“Our country must be seen to be continuing along a progressive path of reform not just in the eyes of the international community, but also in the eyes of our citizens. The government cannot be perceived as being guilty of engendering a culture where laws are selectively observed and applied; where law enforcement and not justice is blind,” he added.

The Gaming chairman claims that there are number of benefits for the government and the citizens alike to be gained from a ‘yes vote’ and that these ‘good causes’ must be identified.

Dr. Rollins said that regulating gaming for locals would be a new way for the government to create revenue which could be utilised for education purposes like schools and scholarships, healthcare, sports, the disabled, senior citizens, public housing and transportation, historic preservation and youth programmes.

If the outcome of the referendum is no, according to Dr. Rollins it will be an expression of the nation’s wish to deny Bahamians the right to participate in gaming, excluding those persons employed in hotel casinos.

“To continue to allow gaming houses in The Bahamas to exist without appropriate regulatory controls creates the potential for the infiltration of and control by criminal entities, which could very easily produce adverse domestic and international consequences,” he said.

“If Bahamians wish to have access to gaming as a form of entertainment it must be understood that it is unacceptable for it to continue in an unregulated manner. The position of this government must be clear: We cannot regulate the sector in part; it must be regulated as a whole,” he added.

The gambling referendum is scheduled for January 28th, with advanced voting today.

January 21, 2013

The Bahama Journal

Caribbean Blog International 

The upcoming gambling referendum is not about PLP or FNM... ...It is about country first... ...The way to box the choice on January 28 is to vote NO on web shop gaming ...and to vote YES on a national lottery

For sake of country: Vote no on web shops
Front Porch

BY SIMON


The biggest loser in a yes vote to “support the regulation and taxation of web shop gaming” will be the Bahamian people.  It should be noted that while that is the language of the proposed referendum question, the issue is really whether to legalize what is currently a criminal enterprise.

The chief honchos of a yes vote on web shops want a no vote on a national lottery: Just about everybody wins with a national lottery, while only a few win with the legalization of web shops.
For the sake of country, Bahamians should vote no to the greed of a few who may literally laugh all the way to the bank, if not seek to open a bank, to deposit their jackpot of profits galore.
The crap game to allow for the legalization of web shops has generally been promoted by a coalition of self interests bent on maximizing personal gain and greed at the expense of the broader interests of the vast majority of Bahamians.

The big winners in a yes vote may be a briar patch of certain criminal enterprises and their paid agents, alongside a wheel of fortune of certain politicians in hock to their paymasters.
Then there are certain reverend gentlemen who are delighted to have the money changers right up front in the sanctuary of the temple.  The love of money may be the root of certain evil inasmuch as it may be the root of hypocrisy of biblical proportions.

The legalization of all forms of gambling is opposed by some.  For others, various forms of gambling are not inherently unethical.  For the latter, the ethical and policy questions concern what forms of gambling and how gambling is to be administered, regulated and taxed.

These ethical and policy questions involve what kind of lottery system would be best for the country in terms of who would receive the greater benefit of funds generated by a lottery.

Initiatives

With a national lottery, most of the funds should go to the Public Treasury, utilized for public purposes like a greater number of scholarships for students, more financial support for culture, sports, youth programs and other initiatives of social good.

A concern and caveat: It remains uncertain what the government means by a national lottery, who will run such an enterprise, and how profits are to be distributed.

But, if there is a majority yes vote on a national lottery, it can be redeveloped into a more progressive lottery over time if the current administration fails to develop the type of national lottery more beneficial to the greater good.

In voting yes for web shops, the bulk of the millions would be jammed into the already overflowing coffers and overstuffed vaults of a few to be used for their private pleasure, making some people wealthier while starving the public purse of badly needed funds needed to empower working Bahamians.

In saying yes to web shops, voters would be saying a resounding no to the needs of the children and future generations of Bahamians.  In terms of social justice and the needs of the poor and working class Bahamians, a government-owned national lottery is overwhelmingly more in the interest of the country.

The intense yes vote drive for web cafes has littered the country with billboards, t-shirts, broadcast commercials, social media efforts, jingles, giveaways, rum-soaked parties and other means of enticing and inducing voters.

Was any of the largesse for this slick campaign from illegally-derived funds?  What does it say about our democracy if the funds for certain campaigns related to the yes vote are not from legal sources?  And how much have they spent?  Millions?

Does the Utilities Regulation and Competition Authority (URCA) have reason to investigate the source of funds being used to run certain broadcast ads?

Unseemly

The yes vote extravaganza has a democratic right to engage in such an orgy and frenzy of enticement and inducement.  Yet it has mostly been unseemly.  Some of the activities coincided with the Christmas season, mocking the spirit of gift-giving by raffling gifts more out of seeming self-interest than true generosity.

In many lower income neighborhoods there are signs encouraging poorer Bahamians to vote yes to further enrich numbers bosses secure in gated enclaves where they may count their many millions in splendor and comfort.

What will help to educate and empower greater numbers of poorer Bahamians will be the greater amount of dedicated funds from a national lottery rather than the lesser amount of taxes derived from the proceeds of web shops.

It is nauseating to watch as some pretend to be Robin Hood, though they more resemble the Sheriff of Nottingham, who happily banked the wealth of the poor to enrich his pocket and ambitions.  And, make no mistake, the web shop millions are made up of the dollars of many Bahamians who can least afford it.

The ratings group Moody's Investors Service recently “downgraded its sovereign credit rating for The Bahamas by one notch to Baa1, citing limited economic growth prospects”.

With the need for increased revenues relative to the government’s annual deficit and the country’s overall debt, a national lottery would generate a greater amount of funds dedicated to various areas of the national budget, especially those areas that are likely to be the first victims of spending cuts.

A national lottery is no panacea on issues of deficit and debt.  But a national lottery may better help to address both more so than legalizing web shops, from which the country would generate less critically needed revenue.

Those uncertain as to whether they will vote, have a self-interest and a patriotic obligation to vote.  In abstaining from voting, one may very well help advance the narrower interests of some.

The upcoming referendum is not about PLP or FNM.  It is about country first.  The way to box the choice on January 28 is to vote no on web shops and to vote yes on a national lottery.

thenassauguardian

• frontporchguardian@gmail.com
www.bahamapundit.com

Caribbean Blog International

There are numerous benefits that can be derived by voting YES in the impending January 28, 2013 referendum

Why vote? Why vote yes?


BY PHILIP C. GALANIS



This year, as we begin to celebrate 40 years of independence, the Christie administration is determined to focus the nation’s attention and get its input on several important matters that have either been present in our lives for the past four decades, or that may become an important part of our future.  In order to accomplish this objective, Mr. Christie has foreshadowed three instances in which his government will invite the populace to express its views on issues of national importance.  The first will be a non-constitutional referendum on regulating and taxing web shop operations and establishing a national lottery on January 28 of this year.

Secondly, a constitutional referendum is foreshadowed sometime before we celebrate our 40th independence anniversary. The government also plans to conduct another non-constitutional referendum on the issue of whether or not to permit oil exploration in our pristine waters sometime thereafter.

This week we would like to Consider This… in the upcoming referendum on January 28, should Bahamians vote and how should they vote?

An historical first

This month’s referendum will be the first time in Bahamian history that a non-constitutional referendum will be held.  We have heard the objections of some who ask: Why do we need a referendum on these matters?  The simple answer is that a referendum is not really required.  However, unlike his predecessor in office, the current prime minister is a consensus builder, a quintessential democrat who believes that such fundamental policies should be informed by public discourse, debate and deliberation, not just the Cabinet or prime ministerial directive.

The religious argument

There are some in our society who have sought to reduce their opposition to the regulation and taxation of web shops and the establishment of a national lottery to Biblical precepts.  However, they are hard-pressed to support their tenuous positions.  There is not a single, direct Biblical text which posits that participation in gaming activities is either sinful or offensive to God.  Not one!  Sure, there are some references that can be “interpreted” as tangentially supportive of such an hypothesis, but as regards a specific divine prohibition, the Scriptures are silent.  The infinitely more learned theological scholars who head the Roman Catholic, Anglican and Methodist congregations in our community have themselves resisted such an untenable translation of the Holy Scriptures.  It would be instructive for the uninformed to read the pastoral letters that were recently issued by the Roman and Anglican prelates on this subject.  So much for a firm basis for a religious argument against the subject of the referendum.

The economic argument

If we accept the assertions of experts in The Bahamas, the gaming industry here is just that – an industry.  The web shops, by their own admission, account for an annual turnover of $300 to $400 million and employ more than 3,000 Bahamians, arguably our third largest industry after tourism and financial services.  This revenue, however, remains outside the real economy because we have chosen, like the proverbial ostrich, to bury our heads in the sand and quietly pretend that it does not exist.  The unfortunate reality is that such denial has the effect of criminalizing the activity of at least 50,000 participants, keeping it in the “underground economy”, unregulated and untaxed.  The same can be said for the operators who have personified an entrepreneurial spirit.

If we conservatively accept that the taxes that we do not collect from this industry represent at least $10 million annually, an extremely conservative estimate by any stretch, then, since our independence 40 years ago, the government has failed to collect a minimum of $400 million in tax revenue during that period from this underground economic powerhouse.  Imagine what could have been accomplished by having that kind of revenue stream in our public coffers over the past four decades.  Imagine what kind of good could be done for our future by introducing that kind of revenue stream now.

This injection of revenue does not include other benefits such as payroll, contributions to National Insurance, telecommunications and electricity income, rental income and stamp taxes from financial and real estate transactions, just to mention a few.

The ethical argument

There are ethical considerations that should be factored into the gaming equation.  The current state of affairs criminalizes persons – both operators and participants – who engage in such gaming activities.  On the one hand, because of the existing legal construct, we have accepted that it is perfectly permissible for Bahamians to participate in lotteries and other gaming activities when we travel abroad.  However, the minute we return to our shores, we are instantaneously morphed into criminals if we wish to engage in the very same activity in which we participated abroad.  This reality represents the highest form of hypocrisy and is symptomatic of a severe case of national schizophrenia.  Such behavior results in a form of national insanity that borders on the idiotic.

Why vote? Why vote yes?

There are numerous benefits that can be derived by voting yes in the impending referendum.

• A yes vote will legally recognize a reality that has been an integral and ingrained part of our community and culture for many decades.

• A yes vote will positively contribute to our national coffers by providing additional revenue that is presently beyond the reach of the government.

• A yes vote will enable us to truly diversify our economy.

• A yes vote will foster a well-regulated industry that will emerge from the shadows into the light.

• A yes vote will open a new industry not only for the present operators, but also for those who qualify for future operations.

• A yes vote will open this industry to also include groups of entrepreneurial Bahamians as well as companies who could finance their gaming enterprises by offering shares to the public, making this industry truly open and owned by the public.

• A yes vote will enable the government to have additional funds to allocate for education, sports, culture and public health initiatives.

• A yes vote will open the possibility of creating a school of entrepreneurship established by these Bahamian entrepreneurs who can also impart their industry experience by mentoring young Bahamians.

• A yes vote will prevent us from having to continue to expend exponentially large funds in policing an illegal and unregulated industry.

• A yes vote will enable us to prevent the possibility of falling into the trap of having our country blacklisted by powerful forces beyond our borders who will surely insist that we are contributing to money laundering and the funding of terrorist activities.

Conclusion

In the upcoming referendum on January 28, it will be important to exercise our right as citizens to be heard when our government asks our opinion.  If we do not use this, our very first opportunity to be heard in this manner, we endanger ever being asked again.  This is an expensive exercise that government will not likely undertake again if the citizens do not respond.  Should the turnout be small, history will see this as a setback to the broader and more inclusive new democracy we are being offered with this referendum.

On referendum day, it will be important for us to vote and to vote yes.

• Philip C. Galanis is the managing partner of HLB Galanis & Co., Chartered Accountants, Forensic & Litigation Support Services. He served 15 years in Parliament.  Please send your comments to:pgalanis@gmail.com

January 07, 2013

thenassauguardian

Caribbean Blog International

Senator Jerome Gomez says that he plans to vote yes when the government brings a referendum on whether or not The Bahamas should drill for oil

Senator to vote ‘yes’ on oil drilling referendum

By Travis Cartwright-Carroll
Guardian Staff Reporter
travis@nasguard.com

Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) Senator Jerome Gomez said yesterday that he plans to vote yes when the government brings a referendum on whether or not the country should drill for oil.

Gomez said that on the January 28 gambling referendum he is not sure how he will vote, but he is more than certain how he will vote on the oil referendum.

Gomez said he is “convinced that oil is in The Bahamas, having worked for an oil company in the past”.

He made those remarks during his contribution to the debate on the Constitutional Referendum Amendment Bill.  He voted in favor of the bill.

Before the May 7 general election then Opposition Leader Perry Christie drew headlines when he confirmed that he was a legal consultant for Davis & Co., the law firm that represented the Bahamas Petroleum Company (BPC).

BPC wants government approval to drill an oil well in Bahamian waters by April 2013.

It was former Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham who revealed Christie’s involvement with BPC.

Christie later said that his professional relationship with the law firm was severed “well before” the controversy erupted.

Gomez, who ran in Killarney during the election, was resident manager for BPC according to the company’s website.  He has never publicly commented on that relationship since entering politics.

Dec 07, 2012

thenassauguardian

Caribbean Blog International