Dear Editor,
Who do our government leaders think they are fooling? They say to us that if we - the
Bahamian people - would give them, on January 28, 2013, the mandate to demand that gambling remains an illegal operation they would abide by that directive.
They say - that with all the energy and willpower and manpower they could muster - they would without any delay execute an anti-gambling crusade in this nation. They say they would immediately impose that anti-gambling law.
Here is how this same truth is reinforced in the editorial of The Nassau Guardian of November, 19, 2012: "The stakes are high. The prime minister has said that he will shut down the web shops, if the Bahamians vote no. Many Bahamians think that he is joking regarding this promise."
Government leaders promise, in effect, that they would, if given the power to do so by the people, round-up, arrest, and prosecute to the fullest extent of the law, even to the extent of imprisoning or fining or both, all such lawbreakers.
They promise that they would shut down every operation that attempts to foster illegal gambling endeavors: web shops, numbers houses, lotto outlets (all such except, of course, their cherished, well - protected casino operations).
That is what we hear them say - with emotional fervor and politically persuasive jargon.
Now, who do they think they are fooling?
Well, here is the ugly truth as it now stands, that we must all face up to. There is a law - now, this very minute - as I write now and as you read this document, which makes all gambling activities in the entire Commonwealth of The Bahamas illegal (except for the casino operations which have been granted temporary exemptions from the law).
At this very moment, government leaders, and all or any of their law enforcement agencies do not need one single citizen's vote to create that law or to execute it. It remains valid law on the books. It needs only obedience and submission to its present demands to be effective.
Yet, these same leaders are now, at this moment, not making any sincere effort to see that this presently existing anti-gambling law is upheld.
Quite to the contrary, they have given comfort to lawbreakers, even allowing them to advertise glamourously their criminal operations publicly without one single show of disapproval or resistance.
On Monday, December 3, 2012, in The Punch "Off the Political Cuff" under the byline "Web Shops must be careful not to battle the Church", the author made this assessment: "The prime minister and the PLP government have said from the outset they have 'no horse in the race', and while that is a noble approach to the situation it is well known that the present government in office for only a matter of months would not like to see the referendum fail."
From what source do you think the government authorities would suddenly and miraculously get the needed leadership courage, the united resolve, the clear conscience, the strong conviction or the moral backbone, or as we say in common language the "guts", to do what they know they must and should have been doing for a long time? Just because citizens in a referendum vote said no to gambling?
Who do you think they are fooling? Well, I say if these leaders are truthful and sincere about these statements then let them demonstrate it this very day; release that courage and just resolve, and take the necessary lawful posture now. Send out the riot squads and round up all they know are guilty lawbreakers.
If they could find it after January 28, 2013 - just days away - then why not pull it out of the reservoir now, when they already have a no vote.
Who do you think they are fooling?
Who but the least discerning can miss the very plain truth that the government leaders want the vote to be yes. They have made no attempt to make it appear otherwise and by various means are themselves promoting the yes vote.
With many references to the referendum, they plead added reasons, why a no vote would destabilize the economy, since they advocate that at least 3,000 jobs would be in jeopardy if a no vote ensues.
Government leaders are already calculating the added dollars brought in to the Public Treasury - when the yes vote comes in. What a whitewash of true democracy.
Here is a good example: I sat with hundreds of others - friends, family and well-wishers - to witness the passing of the baton from retiring Bishop Simeon Hall to his youthful successor. During that very inspiring three hours Dr. Timothy Stewart, the main speaker, delivered a well-crafted sermon stating most convincingly why Bahamians must not vote to make gambling legal. I have never heard him in better form.
However, when I watched the ZNS television newscast of that impressive service from New Covenant Baptist Church, all I heard and saw was the leader of the opposition, the prime minister and Bishop Simeon Hall.
Not only was there not even one excerpt from Pastor Timothy's 45-minute passionate sermon, but as far as I am aware, there was no reference to his name, even though he was the featured speaker for the occasion. The no vote advocate must not be given fair coverage. I am still alarmed at such a biased media coverage display of such a very historic happening in our church life.
I have always held a very high regard for Loftus Roker, even since the early fifties when we were teachers together. But that level escalated greatly when I read his very honest appraisal of our present national decline. I share wholeheartedly his evaluation that "legalizing gambling would be a negative move for The Bahamas 40 years after independence".
How brutally brunt was his evaluation of how low we have fallen when he so sincerely stated: "If he is doing something that is illegal now and is still illegal today, because nothing has changed and you know who he is... it is unbelievable what we have come to in The Bahamas, and I am saying then it appears to be no law and order in the country."
How low we have fallen. What depths of poor governance and base principles of life we are so boldly showcasing. I lament with the ancient prophet Israel and apply it to my own country The Bahamas: "Hear this solemn sermon of truthful warning: 'Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who put darkness for light; and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter" (Isa 5:20 (N.I.V.).
- Rex Major
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