Web shops down to 200-plus, says Bastian

Fri, Jun 16th 2017, 10:18 AM

Island Luck CEO Sebas Bastian said there are currently an estimated 200-plus web shops operating in The Bahamas, while noting a significant reduction in the number of web shops to date.
Speaking with Guardian Business recently Bastian said, "There has been a tremendous reduction in the amount of gaming houses from before regulation to what it is now," he said.
"The amount of operations have reduced almost by 50 percent."
Last year in August, former Minister of Tourism Obie Wilchcombe, who had responsibility for gaming, said the then government reduced the number of physical web shops from 600 to 400, and said he expected that once the licensing process was complete, that number would come down.
"I don't know where we are getting those 400, 500, 600 numbers from," said Bastian.
"I think what had happened was, they were calling franchises gaming premises.
"But if a liquor store sells numbers and he has a computer behind his bar, I am sorry, that is not a gaming house premise."
He explained that the numbers were consolidated with the franchises.
"There are only about 200-plus countrywide," Bastian said in terms of gaming premises.
He also dismissed the idea of placing a limit on the number of web shops each operator is allowed to have.
However, FML Group of Companies CEO Craig Flowers has been a proponent for limiting the amount of houses per operator.
Bastian said, "If he (Flowers) wants less stores, then he should just open less stores."
He contended that "there is no legitimate rational" for limiting the number of stores an operator can have.

Taxes
Bastian also revealed gaming operators' interest in recommending to the new government that gaming taxes be placed in a separate account that would go towards community projects.
He said Island Luck pays an average of $10 million in taxes per year, adding that the industry generates an estimated $25 million in tax dollars.
"In the beginning, when we were getting this industry regulated, we always spoke about tax benefits and what it could actually do for the community," said Bastian.
"We (operators) would like to recommend that the taxes -- an estimated $25 million derived annually -- do not go to the Consolidated Fund but go to a fund in which the Bahamian public can actually see and point to what the gaming funds are being used to do.
"If you look at $25 million per year, we can build at least six schools a year with just gaming taxes.
"We can build houses, we can do a lot of stuff.
"I cannot tell them (the government) how to spend the money or what to do with the money, but we would like to recommend that it is segregated from the Consolidated Fund just so the public can see exactly what funds are derived from gaming to help the community."

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