We are facing some very serious times. I listened intently to the PM on Wednesday, Nov. 14th. I did not believe what I was hearing coming out of the mouth of the PM. It appears that he is having touches of memory loss. I believe he has changed his mind about three or four times on the issue of Gambling in the past eight months.
He by himself or he and others around him apparently decided that they were not going to be able to sell the illegal referendum on just numbers to the Bahamian public so now they are going to pass Legislation to make it legal to do what they want to do. They are trying to play with our minds in a different manner by announcing that they will probably put the question of a National Lottery to the people as well as the numbers and it is apparent that they believe that if they put the Lottery on the (OPINION POLL?—ha, ha!) they can fool people into voting for both at the same time.
My brothers and sisters, do not be deceived by this slick skullduggery. All and sundry know well that the PLP are very good at making promises and having no intention of keeping those promises.
There is nothing that will say that even if it passes, they will put a National Lottery in place in our lifetime. The Prime Minister himself keeps repeating that a National Lottery will not be feasible in the Bahamas. I, like many others, am confused by all of this because I am still trying to figure out how any Government or anyone else will be able to say that Bahamians can gamble on East Street or Nassau Street, but you cannot gamble on the Cable Beach Strip. If the law now says that Bahamians cannot gamble in the Bahamas how can anyone pass a law which makes it legal and constitutional that says Bahamians can gamble, but they cannot gamble in casinos. This to me would be hypocrisy in the highest order. But then again that has never worried the PLP.
It is very unfortunate that there seems to be a great amount of pressure being put on the PM to legalize the numbers in the Bahamas, but we must all remember that gambling is gambling so the quandary still exists.
The world is watching to see what kind of democracy really exists in the Bahamas, so PM, I would advise that it all needs to be very carefully thought out.
Concerned Citizen
Eleuthera, The Bahamas
November, 2012
