Gambling in The Bahamas is big business. This is a fact. The government knows this, and wants to get its hands on some of the money. The question is really all about the ﾓhowﾒ at the center of what seems a puzzle. The governmentﾴs answer to the ﾓhowﾒ is a proposal for the introduction of a National Lottery. This bird will not fly anytime soon in The Commonwealth of The Bahamas.
That point made, the Government just does not seem to get it.
Our reference here is to what seems its blind spot on the matter involving gambling in The Bahamas. The crux of the matter is this: despite their vociferous objections to gambling on any number of grounds, tens of thousands of Bahamians, Haitians, and others resident in this nation do in fact spend lots of money gambling. Gambling in The Bahamas is big business. This is a fact. The government knows this, and wants to get its hands on some of the money. The question is really all about the ﾓhowﾒ at the center of what seems a puzzle.
It is also a foregone conclusion that gambling will be around for quite some time. The real question today concerns whether or not the government, and by extension the Bahamian people can derive any benefit from this industry. In truth, and in fact, the issue is ultimately about whether the government can get a share of the dollars that Bahamians will spend, no matter what laws are on the books.
For our part, we are convinced that a sensible way forward for the government and the people of The Bahamas would be for the matter of gambling in The Bahamas to be comprehensively re-examined with a view towards literally leveling the playing field.
What we are, in fact, suggesting is that it makes no sense in a modern Bahamas for foreigners to have rights, and enjoy privileges not available to Bahamian residents and citizens.
We are convinced that the Law itself is made to look like an asinine ninny, when people, including law-enforcement officers, routinely flout laws. Such is the case when police officers buy numbers. In the Bahamas, they too routinely dream about cashing in big time. And, for sure, some times they do. This is an open secret in the circles, which matter, as far as gambling is concerned. ﾠ
So, as we have been intimating the question turns on how the government might conduct itself, so as not to offend some of the finer sensibilities of those who are adamantly and sincerely opposed to gambling in any form. If as we are suggesting it is wrong for Bahamians to be discriminated against in their own country; and if it is clear that significant numbers of Bahamians are dead set against government involvement in the lotteries business, there is a compromise available. In our view it brings with it the high probability that it will effectively defuse gambling as a politically and socially divisive issue in The Bahamas.
Our recommendation would be for the government to sweep away all laws and regulations which prohibit Bahamians from gambling in The Bahamas. As in the case of foreigners who are allowed access to the industry, so should it be for Bahamians. And, they should be taxed in the same manner as foreigners. If the government were to move in this direction, they would have the constitution and the people behind them on the matter of gambling.
By extension, then, if the matter at hand is ultimately about revenues, these can be had from those businesses to which licenses are given. And, if the question were about whether or not the Government in its guise as government should be involved in gambling, this objection would also be met. It would, in a sense, not be directly involved in gambling.
This is the point many Bahamians have been trying to make, as they have objected to a so-called National Lottery. This is the dodo bird that will not fly. On the other hand, we are quite convinced that Bahamians who do provide gambling services will not object to paying their fair share of taxes for the opportunity to do legally what they will continue to do illegally, regardless.
In this regard, it is interesting to note that precisely because gambling is socially accepted in The Bahamas, but continues to be illegal, those involved in the trade are sometimes feel obliged to pay protection money to any number of shakedown artists and seedy con-men. This makes an already bad situation even worse for an already heavily burdened police force. This need not be so.
In this regard, we daresay that once the gambling issue is legitimized and privatized in The Bahamas for Bahamians, criminal elements will be put out of business, thus making The Bahamas a much safer place.
Editorial, The Bahama Journal
