Minister of National Security Dr. Bernard Nottage said government will give the Royal Bahamas Police Force (RBPF) all the resources it needs to shut down numbers houses if Bahamians vote against the legalization and regulation of the sector.
Nottage said one of the problems the Ingraham administration faced when trying to shut down the web shops was that the government continued to provide new business licenses for the operations in spite of the sporadic raids police carried out on the establishments.
He said the Christie administration would not provide business licenses to known numbers house operators if the referendum did not support them becoming regulated.
“We will provide the Police Force with whatever it needs to carry out whatever the law is,” Nottage told The Nassau Guardian outside the House of Assembly yesterday. “The prime minister has indicated that the government will be guided by the results of the referendum.
“I know that there have been difficulties expressed by many persons as to the ability of the police to carry out that particular duty, but we would have to carry it out.”
He said successive administrations have struggled with closing down the web shops because of a policy of giving the numbers houses licenses to conduct business while it is widely known that they were concealed gambling operations.
“I don’t think that it has to do with either administration,” he said, when asked if he felt the former government lacked the will to shut down web shops. “I don’t think it’s an administration thing. I think that it has just been the complexity that the same administration that is trying to close them down is the administration that licensed them.
“I think that in spite of the fact that raids have been carried out from time to time, they have continued to license them. So if an administration knows that the institution that they are licensing is going to engage in illegal activities then they shouldn’t license them.”
Nottage said he did not think creating stiffer penalties would deter people from breaking gaming laws but added that government would have to enforce existing regulations, depending on the outcome of next year’s vote.
“I don’t think the penalty itself is going to make a difference because we have people doing all sorts of crimes and they know what the penalties are,” he said. “But I think the enforcement is what is going to make the difference and we would be committed to enforcing [the law] but obviously not continue to license businesses that we know are carrying out illegal activities.”
The Bains Town and Grants Town MP said he had not spoken to Police Commissioner Ellison Greenslade about what the Police Force needs in order to clamp down on the mushrooming web shop sector. He added that he has not been involved in any discussions about increasing penalties for persons who operate web shops or illegal casinos, should Bahamians vote no in the referendum.
“But the government has been providing the Police Force with the resources that it needs to deal with crime in the country,” he said. “We believe that we’re beginning to get some success with that and if added to that is a demand to close down the gaming houses then we will deal it.”
The gambling referendum is set for January 28. It is expected to ask voters if they support the legalization and regulation of web shops and if they are in favor of the creation of a national lottery.
By Taneka Thompson
Guardian Senior Reporter
