The Tribune

EDITOR, The Tribune.

Minister Wilchcombe in his capacity as Minister responsible for overseeing the Lotteries and Gaming Act, in Parliament indicated that the “illegal” Numbers-Webshop operations grossed $925,000 per day in sales.

If, and I suggest it is a big IF, this is correct then the Webshops Gross Revenue is over $337 million a year!
If the webshops were required as US Lottery operations are required to put back in prizes 50 per cent of their gross sales then over $168 million should have been won by numbers players each and every year.

Over the recent five years, that is a whopping total of $844 million!

I contend if these facts are correct then I ask myself a stupid question: Why are so many people who are probably the biggest patrons of the webshops maxed out with their credit and their homes are in distress?

Let’s look at this differently – there are approximately 188,000 employed persons, so divide that into the total spent over the past five years you get $4,489.36 per working Bahamian, average – it would be interesting to know from the minister if his research or from the financials shown to him by the webshops they can come anywhere close to that average?

I hope the FNM and the PLP have not been taken but these numbers simply do not make any sense, but then it is The Bahamas. Say something often enough someone will believe you.

Minister: tell us what the webshops have been telling you as it seems Prime Minister Christie and the Cabinet have really been taken for one long ride and now one of their advocates is begging for a tax break on what is the norm of 10-15 per cent on gross sales, Mr Accountant, not net, after all the fancy directors’ fees, political donations, etc, etc. I wonder what would be left to tax?
You know when flies stop landing on a head of a fish you know something’s wrong.

JEROME SMITH

Nassau,

March 10, 2014.