Two former Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) MPs have raised concerns on the heels of Prime Minister Perry Christie's recent communication on the upcoming gambling referendum. Philip Galanis told The Nassau Guardian that if the government sticks to its set criteria in choosing which web shops to license in the event the gambling referendum passes on December 3, no current operator would qualify. George Smith, meanwhile, expressed regret that the government has decided only to deal with the question of whether to legalize web shops, while refusing to consider legalizing casino gambling for Bahamians.
Both men shared their thoughts when contacted by The Nassau Guardian. In a communication in the House of Assembly last Thursday, Christie outlined the criteria that would be used to grant a "small number" of web shop licenses if the gambling referendum passes on December 3. "In order to qualify for a web shop license, applicants would have to meet stringent criteria, including possessing the necessary experience, integrity and expertise, as well as possessing the necessary financial resources, and having the organizational capacity and internal controls needed to operate in an efficient, responsible and transparent manner," Christie said. Galanis said he had a few concerns after reading the prime minister's communication.
"The prime minister indicated that one of the criteria for determining the suitability of applicants would be integrity," Galanis said. "That means that every single web shop that is currently in operation would fail the integrity test because they are currently breaking the law. "The other concern that I have is that there seems to be a predisposition to limiting the number of web shops as opposed to allowing the market to determine who would and would not be viable in the marketplace. "This presupposes that a selection process will be involved and the question that any reasonable Bahamian would want answered is on what basis would those selections be made? "The selection process must be transparent, fair and equitable to all parties."
Galanis also said it appears web shops would be disproportionately taxed when compared to other businesses. Christie has said if licensed web shop gaming becomes a reality, it is anticipated that tax revenues would initially be in the $15 million to $20 million range per annum, but only a "small number" of licenses would be initially offered. He said the license fee would be a minimum of $1 million. But Galanis said, "Commercial banks, which earn in excess of $100 million annually, are not required to pay such a high license fee, and therefore web cafes would appear to be disproportionately taxed when compared to other institutions.
"The license fee for commercial banks is approximately $6 million. That's for all of the commercial banks, which is far less than the money they are expecting to raise from the web shops." Galanis also said the government should make public a report from UK-based consultants on gambling. While the prime minister said the ballot will not have a question on a national lottery -- as had been previously promised -- he did not table the report from the consultants hired by the government to advise it on gambling matters. Christie said those consultants advised that a national lottery would not be commercially feasible.
Galanis said, "I would wish that the government would have tabled the report from the British consultants because in the absence of the report, there is really no basis for the public to understand how they arrived at their conclusions. "I find their conclusions surprising because I recall while I was growing up the country of Malta, which had a far smaller population than The Bahamas, it had a national lottery and Bahamians were invited to and indeed participated in that lottery, and so it really is a question of marketing the product that would make a determination as to whether it's feasible. "But without the report, we really can't understand the basis on which the conclusions were arrived at by the consultants." The Free National Movement has also called on Prime Minister Christie to make the report from the consultants public.
Voters will be asked whether they support the legalization and regularization of web shops. George Smith, who is a former chairman of the Hotel Corporation, noted that after the referendum, it will still be illegal for citizens, residents and work permit holders to gamble in local casinos. "We can't talk about getting rid of discriminatory clauses and all its aspects without looking at the lotteries and gaming legislation which does not permit Bahamians and residents to gamble at our casinos," Smith said. "When we talk about getting out all the gender and discriminatory provisions in the constitution, a debate on whether we will continue to permit an activity taking place in the country that prevents nationals, work permit holders and residents from gambling at the casinos in the country must take place."
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