Limited casino gambling will be introduced By Shirley Thomas
Guyana Chronicle
January 11, 2007

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Minister of Health, Dr. Leslie Ramsammy has confirmed that even though the Casino Gambling Bill is being taken to the Special Select Committee today, Government does not intend to move the Bill to the second reading at this time. Rather, persons who are not in favour of the Bill will be allowed the opportunity to make their concerns known to the Select Committee.

Noting that it has never been the intention of Government to foist casino gambling on the people of Guyana, the Health Minister said that Government is aware that there are genuine concerns, particularly coming from the religious community, and does not arrogantly disregard those concerns.

“We think that these concerns are genuine, and government is taking it with a lot of respect,” he stressed.

He recalled that President Jagdeo, in March 2006, engaged in discussion with the leaders of the Christian Community on this matter. The venue was State House, at which forum they were given the opportunity to react to the proposal, the Minister said.

The Health Minister said casino gambling will be introduced in Guyana, only in a limited way, and will not be granted to businesses willy nilly, nor will Guyanese be allowed to take part in the gambling activities.

He said that in order for a business to be granted a licence to engage in casino gambling, it must first satisfy the specification of being at least a four-star hotel with no less than 150 rooms. Further, only visitors to Guyana (tourists) will be allowed to engage in casino gambling, and not the local people. Ramsammy said when casino gambling gets going – possibly on time for World Cup Cricket 2007, no person producing a Guyanese passport can turn up at an approved facility and engage in gambling activities.

Putting up a case for the introduction of the casino gambling in Guyana, Dr. Ramsammy said that if Guyana is to promote development of tourism, it must have four-star hotels, adding that the introduction of casino gambling was an incentive to do so. Dr. Ramsammy insisted that such an enterprise has benefits for the country – it is expected to be an economic development revenue generating feature, as well as it will generate employment for many of the unemployed in Guyana. “Our country needs revenue, our country needs employment…. And one of the vehicles is to have casino gambling!” Ramsammy argued. He said that whilst casino gambling agreeably will have a downside, the approach should not be to down play the negative, but to put systems in place to deal with them when they arrive.

The Health Minister cited cases and countries in which the activity is operating, such as the United States, the Bahamas, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Canada and the United Kingdom and feels that Guyana should go that way.

And commenting on the response from other quarters other than the Christian community and other religious leaders, Ramsammy said that some of the opposition being voiced is not being promoted ‘with the same genuine concern’.

“I think that this is a hysterical response that has no basis!” he affirmed.

Ramsammy said that while Government is aware that casino gambling can be associated or equated with money laundering, there are other activities or hobbies that have negative effects, such as tobacco smoking, and the sale of alcohol, but these are not greeted with the same spirited attempts to eliminate or reduce them.

Noting that the administration must remain cogniszant of the possibilities for abuse, and put mechanisms in place to prevent them, Dr. Ramsammy said that Government has shown a determination to address those, and worked closely with the United States Government to combat the menace of money laundering, for example.

He said that at any rate, that menace (money laundering) threatens Guyana with or without casino gambling. He said that casino gambling is being “carefully considered in the Guyana context, because of respect for the religious community. It will be introduced here, but only in a limited fashion, Dr. Ramsammy stated.