Retired Anglican Archbishop Drexel Gomez said yesterday he will personally petition the government to force gaming house operators to fund campaigns that send direct warnings about gambling addiction. Gomez insisted gambling remains a “threat” to society and gives people who buy into it “false hope”.

“Numbers houses are a threat to society,” he said. “Society needs to have a second look at this.”

He said given the fact that it is now too late to shut down gaming houses, the focus should now be on preventing addiction, not treating it after it has become an issue.

“The negative aspect of this exercise should always be part of the forefront. Just as on the cigarette package, you have the print of the negative aspect of smoking, I think that every time you buy or engage in [gambling], there should be something that draws your attention to the negative aspect of it,” Gomez said. “That should be mandated. That should not be optional because that should reflect the concern of people.”

In October 2014, Gomez said while he was morally opposed to web shop gambling, he believed it only made sense for the government to regularize the industry given that casino gambling has been legal for decades.

The Gaming Bill was passed in 2014. It paved the way for the industry to be regulated. The move came after the majority of people who voted in a referendum on gambling in 2013 voted against the establishment of a national lottery, and the regularization and taxation of web shops.

In the legislation, there are provisions to deal with the social ills. The legislation calls for the protection and treatment of gambling addicts, to be managed by an independent body. The program is to be funded by the gaming industry and is to provide information on the dangers of gambling. But Gomez argued that this simply is not enough. He insisted a more “up-front” approach should be taken.

“The law should be amended to have that attached so that the operators of the numbers houses would have to design that whenever you do any transaction, you should be confronted with the negative,” he said. “So that there can be no excuse from people who act as if they don’t know what they are doing or as if they are unaware of the possibility of addiction.”

Gomez said he plans to present his views to the government soon, but he declined to say when.

Last October, eight web shop operators were awarded conditional gaming house operator licenses. The operators are FML Group of Companies Ltd., GLK Limited (A Sure Win); Jarol Investments Limited (Chances Games); Paradise Games Bahamas Limited; Playtech Systems Limited (Island Luck); TIG Investments Limited (Percy’s at the Island Game); The Four Point Group (Asue Draw+Spin), and Bahama Dreams Web Café Limited.

Since the Gaming Bill was passed there have been attempts to address gambling addiction. In March 2015, Island Luck CEO Sebastian Bastian told The Nassau Guardian that his company had developed its own monitoring system for chronic gamblers. Bastian claimed that through the system Island Luck is able to “pinpoint” those who may have a gambling addiction.

Months earlier in 2014, noted therapist Dr. David Allen announced that he planned to establish a gambling addiction program. Allen, who is the director of the Renascence Institute, said he has treated several gambling addicts in the last few years. He estimated that the regularization of the industry could cause a 10 to 20 percent increase in the number of people who will become compulsive gamblers.

Jasmin Brown

Guardian Staff Reporter

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