With the fight to keep web shops from closing headed to the Supreme Court today, the jobs of hundreds of Bahamians are hanging in the balance.
It comes at a time when the unemployment climate remains challenged.
In the face of an overwhelming no vote in Monday's referendum on gambling, Prime Minister Perry Christie last night ordered all web shop gaming to stop immediately.
Ahead of his announcement yesterday, web shop operations across New Providence were open and reported "normal activity".
The majority of workers in the web shops The Nassau Guardian visited, predominantly in eastern and southeastern New Providence, were unwilling to speak.
The few who did said business was normal and they at the time had no major concerns of being shut down anytime soon.
As Christie met with his Cabinet to discuss the outcome of the referendum and the road ahead, numerous customers were in the various web shops gambling.
A manager of Asue Draw on East Street said she had not been given any special instructions and she and her staff reported to work.
Asked whether she was concerned about authorities closing down her place of employment, she responded, "I'm not too concerned. As you can see things are normal and there is normal activity."
But hours later, Christie released his directive.
An Island Games security guard, subcontracted under I.C.S. Security Concepts, said earlier in the day he thinks the web shops should be given a grace period to allow employees to find alternative employment before being closed down.
However, he said his job was not directly under threat as he could be transferred to another establishment.
"I came to work this morning and while there is not as many customers here as usual, people are still playing and business is still reasonable," said the guard.
Action
The prime minister warned last night that all violators of the directive to end web shop gambling would be prosecuted.
While there was no immediate statement from police last night, Assistant Commissioner Hulan Hanna is on record as saying police are prepared to begin shutting down those businesses once the directive was given.
Although he did not reveal what action the police force would take if the referendum fails, Commissioner of Police Ellison Greenslade said a plan was being developed whether the gaming referendum passed or not.
"We are listening and watching with interest and we are going to be guided in a proper way," he said earlier this month.
"But we are very alert as a team as to what is happening and what is being discussed and we're listening to our people very, very closely."
On the question of whether web shops should be regulated and taxed, 30,767 voters voted yes while 48,012 voted no.
According to unofficial results, which were released yesterday, 45 percent of registered voters voted.
Abstain
The Guardian also interviewed several Bahamians, who abstained from voting in Monday's referendum. Their reasons ranged from a lack of interest to the belief that the referendum process was flawed.
Kevera 'Yoda' Turnquest, 21, a student who returned home from college in the United States, said he was disappointed that neither campaigns provided empirical evidence to support the claims, adding that the government also failed to fill in those details.
"I was hoping Bahamians were smart enough to realize this and it seems a lot of people just went out there [Vote Yes rallies] because it was free entertainment," he said.
"It was not an important matter to me, but Bahamians should have the due diligence to see stupidity when it strikes. The commercials were trying to push you in one direction, but where was the education process?"
James Hanna, 25, a certified public accountant, agreed that the government did not fulfill its promise of an education campaign and said, "I didn't feel like I should enable the government to do [nonsense]".
"They made the process confusing and didn't make sense to me," said Hanna, who noted he would have voted no to web shops and yes to a national lottery.
"If you're giving people options you should tell them everything about the options they have. We should not go into [anything] blind. We should have gathered all of the information and I didn't have enough information to get involved in the process."

A judge sentenced a man to 12 years in prison after he admitted to committing an armed robbery.
Gregory Dion Johnson pleaded guilty to robbing Kelly Carroll of a Lexus GS300, worth $35,000, on December 20, 2004 at the start of his trial before Senior Justice Jon Isaacs yesterday.
Carroll was carjacked at Casuarinas on West Bay Street.
The sentence imposed by Isaacs is to run concurrently with another sentence he's serving.
Romona Farquharson appeared for Johnson. Eucal Bonaby prosecuted.

Dear Editor,
On January 28, 2013, the people of The Bahamas rejected outright gambling in all forms as presented by the Bahamian government. They voted loud and clear and they voted no.
Opponents and proponents alike will now ask the question why? Why did Bahamians vote against a thriving web shop industry that some say employs thousands of people? Why did Bahamians not support the possible $20 million being added to the public treasury annually, especially given that The Bahamas is on the brink of financial collapse?
The government of The Bahamas said it had no horse in the race, yet it gave numerous statements to the contrary. On the surface, it was abundantly clear that the government by its actions wanted most Bahamians to vote yes. But a lot of Bahamians in their stubbornness believed otherwise. And a great many Bahamians I believe were confused about the government's position; many of them still are.
You see the whole gambling referendum process lent itself to a blue hole of confusion. One minute the prime minister was saying that he had no horse in the race and the next minute he was saying that the web shops employed a great many Bahamians and that our social services would be stretched if Bahamians voted no. Even the chairman of the gaming board, Dr. Andre Rollins, said that the process was awkward and untidy. He seemed very much out of his element as I believe he was put in a position to support something that his inner convictions did not believe in.
The no vote on January 28, 2013 was a culmination of several factors, but we can't deny that the excessive administrative blunders by Perry Christie and his government contributed to the referendum not being supported by the majority of Bahamians. It is still mind boggling to me the juvenile tactics the government used in this whole gambling referendum process.
Bahamians saw right through the government's incompetence and they demand and deserve to know what they are voting for and the pros and cons of their vote. The government did not even make an attempt to educate the masses on this issue and it may have gotten what it deserves.
I hope that going forward the government of the day would see the wisdom in showing more respect to the Bahamian people and convey a well thought of process, with studies done and actual facts to the country. We are now zero for two on referendums in the last 11 years. Bahamians are not going to accept any haphazard process that is whipped up like fast food and allow it to be pushed down their throats.
Get the process right and maybe the people will follow.
- Dehavilland Moss

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