The Tribune

By SANCHESKA BROWN

Tribune Staff Reporter

sbrown@tribunemedia.net

THE GOVERNMENT yesterday tabled a Bill in the House of the Assembly to create a legal framework for the referendum on web shop gaming and a national lottery.

Prime Minister Perry Christie said the Bill will amend the Constitutional Referendum Act to introduce special provisions for the holding of referenda of a non-constitutional nature.

He said it is his governments intention that the Bill become law before the end of the year in preparation for the January 28 referendum.

The Prime Minister also pointed out the benefits of the “numbers business” and its contribution to the local economy.

He said web shops employ more than 4,000 people, and have the potential to employ many more once the industry is legalised.

Mr Christie added that their combined annual payroll is more than $15 million, that they pay in excess of $1 million in National Insurance contributions, and that they spend more than $100,000 on business licensing fees, $5 million on donations and sponsorships and $9 million on utilities and other operating expenses.

The Prime Minister said the options for the government are simple – close down the web shops or regularise them within the framework of stringent regulatory standards and taxation.

As it relates a national lottery, Mr Christie said the demographics and geography of the Bahamas make the prospect a commercial lottery very challenging.

“Factors militating against it include: close geographical location of the US, easy access to enormous jackpots which can be secured from the Florida State lottery and other lotteries in the US and the comparatively small population of the Bahamas.

“These factors make it more likely that if a Bahamian citizen has $5 to spend on buying lottery tickets they are more likely to choose to spend it in the US to give themselves a chance of winning a large jackpot,” he said.

“The spread of small pockets of the Bahamian population to the Family Islands means that the infrastructure required to set up a properly regulated national lottery would be higher than would be the case for the equivalent population located on only one island.

“Based on these facts, the issue of a national lottery needed more consideration before inclusion in the referendum.”

However, the Prime Minister said, the mechanism for introducing a commercially run lottery will be put in place in case of a “yes” vote, and the government will then invite tenders from commercial lottery operators, setting out the basis on which they would operate the lottery.

Mr Christie said the government will abide by the result of the referendum – be it yes or no – on the question of both web shop gaming and a national lottery.