Wednesday, January 10, 2007

Faith-based groups charge that government has failed to "count the social
cost of this misadventure" and said they will stage the protest as part of
their mass campaign to help force legislators to back off from the
controversial measure. "The saddest part of this may well be that a
complicit media largely ignored or marginalised the submissions by the
church ... and were deliberately silent while our children's futures were
pawned off to business enterprise," the groups said in a letter to the
media. Research findings The groups argue that according to research
findings in developed countries, casino gambling spawn increased
bankruptcies, suicides, gaming addictions, divorces, child abuse and child
neglect, domestic violence and generalised crime. The Gambling Prevention
(Amendment) Bill which will be tabled by Home Affairs Minister, Clement
Rohee Thursday, will seek to legalise casino gambling in Guyana, but "will
not allow widespread gambling," Government Information Agency (GINA)
reasoned. "According to the amendment bill, it will bar existing hotels and
resorts from establishing casinos on their premises. No more than three
casino licences will be issued in each administrative region," meaning there
will be 30 casino gambling establish-ments in Guyana, GINA said. Under
Section 30 of the measure, "no person other than workers and guests of the
hotels or resorts shall be admitted to the casinos". Government already held
several consultations with the community and President Bharrat Jagdeo said
consultative process is an important period. He made it clear that once the
bill is legislated, only tourists would be allowed to engage in casino
gambling. Casino gambling spawn increased bankruptcies, suicides, gaming
addictions, divorces, child abuse and child neglect, domestic violence and
generalised crime.