The Tribune

EDITOR, The Tribune.

What were the words of Pontius Pilate when he washed his hands of making the decision whether Christ should die or not? Surely what the current government is doing is not better than that now only seven-months since the last election when they were elected to govern.

If one cuts to the chase the whole issue of numbers – lottery – can gamble in the casinos is an easy issue but just look how we have “carpunckled” this up?

The PLP did not promise the issue of lottery or certainly not in their manifesto – Christie might have added lottery in the campaign but I suggest that was not really their proper plan as simply there was a required correcting or otherwise of the illegal operations of numbers which had proliferated through every island and involved the daily breaking of the law by an unacceptable level of the public whilst the Public Treasurer collected revenue from business license - NIB - BEC - BTC - Road Traffic - Real Property - Customs Duties to the extent many suggest that the “illegality” actually was turned into legal because government at no stage stopped or refused the collecting of these revenue flows.

We can’t forget after the Inagua hurricane NEMA, adjunct of the office of the Prime Minister accepted a cheque donation of $165,000 from a well know numbers operator.

How a Prime Minister could instruct or even himself as Minister of Finance invite the operators of numbers, an illegal activity, to his office and sit there negotiating terms to be agreed is akin to the Commissioner of Police inviting known or alleged drug smugglers to discuss how they bring drugs into the Bahamas – this has not been denied but I ask: Where was the Attorney General and the responsibility to uphold the laws of our commonwealth?

Now even the known legal representative of one of the major numbers houses suggests that unless the proposed referendum is attached to a change in legislation the action would not be valid so what should we do? In my opinion he is 100 per cent correct.

Postpone the vote to when we have new legislation that would lay-out clearly what is proposed and it is a simple up and down question….you agree with the proposal to have a legal system of numbers or you don’t wish numbers to be legal.
Is that too difficult for the 20 strong cabinet to decide on?

ABRAHAM MOSS

Nassau,

November 13, 2012.