Hours after Prime Minister Perry Christie met with consultants from the United Kingdom on the structure of a national lottery in The Bahamas, Seventh-day Adventist pastor Dr. Leonard Johnson questioned whether the government needed to hold that discussion.
His comments came as he addressed the issue of gambling during the Advanced Toastmasters Clubs in The Bahamas’ monthly meeting.
Johnson was responding to a question from The Nassau Guardian. “I said I don’t think it is necessary because the government possesses the power,” Johnson said. “If they want to decriminalize numbers, they possess the power; the government has the numbers (in Parliament).
“Now I am not advocating that they do that, please understand.”
While visiting Abaco, Christie told The Nassau Guardian that the U.K. consultants have been in the country for a few days to get an idea of how web shops operate in The Bahamas and to advise the government on how a national lottery should be structured.
But Christie made it clear that the establishment of a national lottery would depend on whether a majority of Bahamians vote in favor of it.
Although Johnson said he did not personally understand why the government thought it necessary to spend money on consultancy, he said he thinks the prime minister is attempting to fulfill the Progressive Liberal Party’s (PLP) pledge to hold a gambling referendum.
“One can argue it is necessary and another can argue it is not necessary,” he said.
“But of course the prime minister has already indicated that based on this issue that came up during his campaigning that he wants to put it to the Bahamian people so that they will decide.”
In a sermon during independence celebrations at Clifford Park in July, Johnson, who heads the Atlantic Caribbean Union of Seventh-day Adventists, urged lawmakers not to look to the proceeds of gambling for economic benefit, but to rely on integrity and hard work to get through trying times.
He told toastmasters that while many Bahamians engage in gambling, few of them win, and even when they do, their losses normally outweigh their gains.
Johnson declined to comment on the anti-gambling campaign launched by the Bahamas Christian Council (BCC).
He said the Seventh-day Adventist church does not plan to outspend ‘We Care’ —
a coalition of web shop owners, which said it plans to spend around $1.5 million on its campaign and on community development programs in the lead up to the gambling referendum.
“It is our intention to continue to educate our people through forums like this as I have been invited to share with you,” Johnson said.
“Channel 53 that comes on Cable, that is another means; there is an advertisement in The Nassau Guardian, these are some of the means, but in terms of spending money to match the ‘We Care’ coalition, no.”
Johnson said it is not his intention to dictate to the government or Bahamians, but he would instead continue to educate them on the negative effects of gambling.
Royston Jones Jr.
The Nassau Guardian
