Dear Editor,
The Bahamas Christian Council (BCC) has won a major victory, albeit a Pyrrhic one, against the powerful numbers bosses and the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) government. Despite having a very deep war chest, the Vote Yes camp was unable to gain a yes vote on Referendum Day. Despite holding massive rallies featuring renown Bahamian artists and showering attendants with expensive gifts such as flat screen TVs, Apple iPads and iPhones, Samsung tablets and phones, cash prizes, food and drinks, the Bahamian people overwhelmingly rejected the message of Flowers and company.
It is quite possible that Vote Yes advocates such as former Free National Movement MP and Cabinet Minister Theresa Moxey-Ingraham, former PLP MP and Senator and Guardian columnist Philip Galanis, radio personality Chrissy "Love" Thompson, Bishop Simeon Hall, Dr. Philip McPhee and Paul Major had all underestimated the massive influence of the Christian church. They were all confident that they would have gotten the yes vote. I think their confidence was based on the unsubstantiated and unscientific claim that some 130,000 Bahamians are active gamblers. Much to the sheer delight of the Save Our Bahamas Vote No campaign, Prime Minister Perry G. Christie has lived up to his promise and has ordered all web cafe operators to immediately cease their gaming operations across the country. The prime minister is following the wish of the 48,012 Bahamians who rejected the regularization of web shop gaming.
I am somewhat ambivalent towards Christie's earth-shattering announcement. While I am against all forms of gambling from a Biblical standpoint, I am deeply concerned for the 3,000 persons who are either directly or indirectly employed in the web shop industry. I hate gambling, but I feel badly for the workers. CEO of FML Group of Companies Craig Flowers told the press that he has just 400 Bahamians in his employment and CEO of Island Luck Sebas Bastian claimed to have around 500. Between the two gambling bosses, they have a total of roughly 900 workers, and I am not even taking into consideration the many family members and dependents of these soon-to-be displaced workers.
Now that the government has ordered the closure of all web cafe gaming, what does the future hold for these hundreds of Bahamians, many of whom are young single mothers? With a struggling job market that has experienced its share of challenges since the financial collapse of Wall Street and the U.S. economy in late 2008, where will these people, many of whom are paying rent and mortgages, find work?
With an estimated 30,000-plus Bahamians already out of work, the job market cannot absorb another 1,000 or 3,000 unemployed persons. Clearly, the Christie administration finds itself between a rock and a hard place. I believe that the PLP government will suffer a sever political backlash from thousands of Bahamians who were employed in the web shops.
Vote No campaign spokesperson and pastor of Grace Community Church Lyall Bethel said that the BCC is sympathetic towards the soon-to-be displaced workers and that his group will work with the government in some way to be able to help. He added, however, that the government provides jobs, not the church. With a projected deficit of some $700 million and a civil service that can only be described as overbloated, it remains to be seen what kind of assistance the PLP government can render to these workers, who no doubt are devastated.
The PLP, since coming to office, has ended the job relief program that the Ingraham administration had put in place to help struggling Bahamians. The program was not extended due to financial shortages. It will be interesting to see how the BCC plans to assist the government with these soon-to-be displaced workers. As an evangelical Christian who spoke out vociferously against regularizing web shop gaming, I am not gloating because of the web shop closure announcement by the prime minister, or because of the results of the referendum. I feel for the workers and hope that none of them will harbor any bitterness in their hearts towards the Christian community.
I don't believe that the church should gloat over its victory either, because there are no true winners in this exercise. We still have casino gambling. And now we have at least 1,000 or as much as 3,000, depending on who you believe, soon-to-be displaced workers. That is why I consider the BCC's victory to be pyrrhic.
Its victory, albeit a very good one for The Bahamas, has had very devastating consequences for hundreds of families, whether we Christians would want to admit it or not. Seeing that the BCC led the way in ending the employment of these Bahamians, it should now lead the way in finding alternate forms of employment for them.
- Kevin Evans

Click here to read more at The Nassau Guardian