Some residents impacted by Hurricane Joaquin last month have been unable to absorb the blow of home damage and personal loss because they "pumped their resources into web shops", Anglican Diocesan Bishop Laish Boyd said yesterday.
During a press conference at Addington House on Sands Road, Boyd said with the exception of Long Cay, he visited each of the islands devastated by the storm to assist with relief efforts and counseling.
"Several persons in several of the affected islands commented that the ability of residents to absorb the blow of home damage and personal loss and to bounce back is being hampered by the fact that so many people have pumped their resources into web shops," he said.
"In the immediate aftermath the people were, and still are, gambling. It would shock the world to know the tens of thousands, and in some cases, hundreds of thousands of dollars, that leave small communities every month in web shop takings. But then, people made their choices, so what are we complaining about?"
Boyd said while the web shop industry represents a relatively small sector of the economy it has and will continue to "extract money from the economy of the islands, communities and cities", that they can't afford to lose.
Boyd said he observed a proliferation of web shops in New Providence, but particularly on the Family Islands, and while these "persons patronize these establishments by choice, their choice drains small Family Island communities."
Last month, eight web shop operators were awarded conditional gaming house operator licenses. Nine web shops applied during the request for proposals phase back in March. Boyd said the government has embarked on a regularization process without making "concrete provisions" for the social and moral side effects of its decision.
"Though not unexpected, this latest move places us at yet another challenging juncture in our country's history because here is an industry that is built upon the sad and unrealistic aspirations of people," he said. "It thrives, in large measure, on the unwise choices of people who spend the money with which they should be doing more essential things."
"Plainly put, the [industry] is getting rich on the backs of the poor. I know the people make a choice to gamble, exercising their own free will and personal rights. I cannot dispute that. But we as human beings often make bad or harmful choices with our free will."
Speaking to the government's decision to go against the results of the 2013 gambling referendum, Boyd said this is still fresh in the minds of Bahamians. He pointed out that the Gaming Act calls for operators to contribute two percent of their proceeds to educational, charitable and social outreach programs.
Boyd called on the government to conduct a study to determine what portion of that combined two percent impacts individual households in The Bahamas. He also said the government must have a wider conversation and present its plan to offset the social and moral side effects that will follow from the industry.
"Friends, whatever you say about the gaming industry, its actual effect on the society is that it gouges out a chunk of flesh from the torso of this nation and creates a syndrome of ill effects that will call for a lot of repair and healing," Boyd said.
He said entities, including the church, social services, psychologists and counselors and social and civic organization, which seek to build and uplift, have a lot more work to do given the government's decision.
Click here to read more at The Nassau Guardian
