Web shop lawsuit won't be dropped just yet

Fri, Mar 7th 2014, 11:20 AM

The attorney representing several web shop bosses said yesterday they will wait until the government regularizes the numbers business before abandoning their legal battle against the Christie administration.

The group commenced legal action following a failed gambling referendum last year. Attorney Wayne Munroe said if the government does regulate the industry there would be no further litigation on the matter.

When there's delivery on the legislation and it makes the lawsuit unnecessary, then of course it is bound to be discontinued if there is nothing else to be suing the government over," Munroe told The Nassau Guardian.

On Wednesday, Minister of Tourism Obie Wilchcombe announced that he intends to present a proposal for the regularization of web shops to Cabinet in two weeks and is pushing for this to be official by July 1.

Wilchcombe said the proposal will address a period of closure for web shops, a fee that web shops will be required to pay and how the money should be distributed.

In the run up to the January 28 poll, web shop bosses campaigned heavily in an effort to secure a yes vote. However, 17,000 more people voted no on the question of web shop gaming than those who voted yes.

On January 29, 2013, Prime Minister Perry Christie ordered that all web shop gaming be stopped. It was that order that prompted the web shop bosses to take legal action.

Yesterday, Munroe said he views Wilchcombe's announcement regarding the regularization of web shops as a "victory for common sense and good judgment".

"The government did hold the referendum...and the prime minister expressed his regret for that," Munroe said.

"I don't understand why people abuse him about that...If I do something that I regret then that means that I recognize that [I] made a mistake.

"And if he has come to the point as having recognized that he made a mistake, and is moving to correct his mistake he should be encouraged.

"...So in government if you realize that you made a mistake and you come to confess it, then you move forward in this good Lenten period and you do what is necessary and correct it.

"And if they are now going to correct it, that's a victory for common sense and judgment." Munroe said his clients have accepted that they will make less profits after their businesses are regulated.

However, he said they are willing to take the hit. "We will give the government our views because before you legislate you have to come to grips with what you're regulating and the regulations must make sense and must be workable," he said.

He said regulations will also help to clean up the industry. "In a regulated environment you're not going to be able to be cowboys," Munroe said.

Click here to read more at The Nassau Guardian

 Sponsored Ads