Dr. Myles Munroe, the keynote speaker at last week’s ‘Changing a Nation in our Generation’, spearheaded by First Church of God, said Bermuda should take heed from the Bahamas experience.
He said legalized gambling have led to hotels having to hire full-time chaplains and a crisis management staff to counsel guests, some of whom have lost up to half a million dollars.
But former Bahamian MP Michael Smith said from the Bahamas yesterday there had been no “real social negatives” to gambling, even though the issue has been a contentious one in the past.
Mr. Smith, who is married to Bermudian, the former Suzanne Joaquin, said reports of suicides were news to him and while he admitted there was “some prostitution,” it was of the “very sophisticated” sort you would find in any resort.
He said casinos, which are regulated by the Government-run Gaming Board, and whose proceeds are taxed, are considered just another amenity for tourists ﾖ like diving. There are four resorts with casinos in the Bahamas, and the one at flashy Atlantis on Paradise Island is said to be the largest casino outside of the U.S.
Mr. Smith said the Bahamas does not advertise itself in tourist literature as a casino resort. “We just say gambling is available,” he said.” Atlantis is a family resort.”
Dr. Munroe claimed this week that the Government will not license any new casinos. But Mr. Smith said a new Four Seasons resort which has just opened on Exuma had been granted a gaming licence.
He said the new hotel has created employment opportunities for the Bahamas, which has an eight per cent unemployment rate. It has not exercised its option to build a casino, but having a gaming licence was an “apparent incentive” for it to build on a remote island.
Dr. Munroe said: “Issues of prostitution among not only men but women have encouraged the sex industry. There’s been suicide in the hotels related to the casinos, but we keep it quiet. The Government tries to play it down, but it’s in our newspapers. People have shot themselves, jumped off balconies because of the money they have lost. The hotels ask us to come in and provide us with the names of people to meet with to counsel them, we have had to set up a ministry to deal with this activity.”
Infrastructure
Dr. Munroe explained how the Bahamas, with a similar infrastructure and religious, family-centred community to Bermuda’s, was faced with the prospect of having to lure more tourists to the islands after 9/11 to boost the industry. Dr. Munroe said legalizing gambling could have long-term effects on people in Bermuda, particularly families.
“Any government must consider the moral and values of people in their community,” he said. “This not an issue of the church against the Government, it should be a community concern.”
Dr. Munroe met with the Premier Alex Scott and Opposition Leader Dr. Grant Gibbons during his stay in Bermuda.
He expressed confidence that Premier Scott would not move to legalize gambling. “He seems to have an understanding of the issues and he appreciates the potential of having legalized gambling,” he said.
Former Cabinet Minister Quinton Edness has also spoken out against gambling ﾗ he said it would be harmful to families and could possibly be a drain on Bermuda’s social welfare system. He expressed surprise at Anglican Bishop Ewen Ratteray’s comments, reported in the Bermuda Sun last week, that he has no personal objection to gambling.
Bishop Ratteray said crown and anchor and bingo have always been a part of Bermuda’s society and that it was hypocritical to deem some forms of gambling illegal, but not others.
Mr. Edness said he has gathering research about the social effects of gambling in Australia and the United States. He said gambling drains the social welfare system in both countries, leaving millions of adults struggling to deal with their addiction.
According to a report in The Australian, 40 per cent of people seeking accommodation in Sydney’s homeless shelters were there as a result of gambling. Mr. Edness said legalized gambling could lead to prostitution, homelessness and destitution as the island struggles with an affordable housing crisis.
“They have not thought it through, especially considering the long-term consequences of gambling and the social implications this may mean for Bermuda,” he said.
Mr. Edness, whose wife Vicki is Australian, has visited Australia numerous times. He recalls meeting a well-dressed, successful businessman with a stable family life. “The next time I saw him he had lost his job, his home, and his family, and was wandering from one casino to the other hoping to make a win,” he said.
Mr. Smith said Bahamians are banned from gambling although he believed there would be legal challenges, if a gambling law were just being established today.
Lottery
He said the Bahamian government has rejected calls for a national lottery, even though Bahamians routinely buy lottery tickets on their weekend trips to Miami. Bahamians also play the numbers, a form of gambling which is openly practised in cafes, though it’s illegal, but police turn a blind eye to it.
He said both political parties are in favour of gambling, and while church leaders remain opposed to it, it is considered a fact of life.
According to literature supplied by the Bahamas Gaming Board, the first casino was established in Nassau in the 1920s. For decades, the industry was dominated by expatriates, with locals unable to find work in casinos, until the Gaming Board put a stop to that.
By 1978, the Government had taken control of the industry, with the Minister responsible for gaming, authorized to grant licences after consultation with the Gaming Board.
In 1993, sports betting in the Bahamas was introduced in response to a loss of tourists to riverboat casinos which had proliferated in the U.S.
Mr. Smith said gambling industry is regulated, proceeds of casinos are audited, they are a good sources of revenue for both hotels and the country, which has no income tax and where customs duties remains the single biggest contributor to Government coffers.
He said while the casinos attract high-flying professional gamblers, most of the proceeds are derived from small-time gambling.
By Eloisa Mayers and Meredith Ebbin, The Bermuda Sun
