Prime Minister Perry Christie is still optimistic that the referendum on gambling will take place this year, however he said the final report from the government’s United Kingdom (UK) advisers will ultimately determine when the highly-anticipated vote will take place.
Christie told reporters last week that the advisers expressed worries that a national lottery catering to a small country like The Bahamas might not be as attractive as larger games of chance with higher cash prizes in the United States.
He said there has to be a determination of whether the game of chance would be a lottery of 300,000 Bahamians, the five million visitors that come to The Bahamas, or if it’s on the Internet, whether there is anything to prevent people in Florida from being a part of the lottery that would take away from Bahamian winnings.
At the time the prime minister said the consultants also spoke of the “urgent” need to regulate web shops due to the large sums of money passing through the establishments unchecked.
