Former Senator Philip Galanis yesterday said the country should not be held "hostage" by last year's referendum results and urged Prime Minister Perry Christie to quickly regulate the web shop sector.

Galanis, a coordinator for the referendum's Vote Yes campaign, also applauded the government's meetings with religious leaders and web shop owners in an effort to try and find a solution to the problem.

Galanis spoke with The Nassau Guardian a day after Minister of Tourism Obie Wilchcombe said he and Prime Minister Perry Christie have been meeting with the Christian Council and other religious leaders about the economy.

During those meetings, the economic impact of the unregulated web shop industry was also discussed, Wilchcombe said.

While it is unclear if these discussions mean the government plans to regulate the industry, Wilchcombe said he feels the web shop sector must be properly taxed and regulated to help bolster the economy.

Wilchcombe's ministerial portfolio includes gaming.

Galanis said the meetings are a step in the right direction and hopes the government quickly moves to regulate the web shop sector.

"I applaud the government for doing whatever it can to find ways and means by which to increase the revenue," Galanis said. "I also believe that it's long overdue for the web shops to be regularized, regulated and to be taxed and for us to stop pretending as if they don't exist.

"I believe it's important for them to do whatever they need to do to work behind the scenes and not allow a handful of religious leaders to impede the progress that needs to be achieved in this country."

On January 28, 2013, voters were asked whether they support the regularization and taxation of web shops; and whether they support the establishment of a national lottery.

Most of the voters said no to both questions; however, less than 50 percent of registered voters took part in the process.

Although Prime Minister Perry Christie pledged to abide by the outcome of the referendum and shut web shops' gaming operations down, the industry remains vibrant.

A group of web shop owners have filed court action against the government to keep their businesses open.

Galanis said the prime minister's integrity will not be diminished if he sets the referendum's results aside and regulates the industry.

"The outcome of the election was neither conclusive nor persuasive," Galanis said. "Less than 50 percent of the people went to vote, many of those who voted no voted for purely political reasons because they wish to oppose the government.

"Mr. Christie, I think, has sufficient grounds on which to put aside the outcome of the referendum and do what's in the best interest of this country. Mr. Christie is the minister of finance. Mr. Christie should be saying to the Bahamian people, 'This is a source of revenue that we need, this is a source of revenue that's going to minimize or reduce the money we need to garner from other forms of taxation; for example, VAT.'"

Galanis was referring to the government's plans to introduce value added tax at a rate of 15 percent in most cases and 10 percent on the hotel industry.

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