Devon Dick MAX LAMBIE in The Financial Gleaner (July 11, 2003), made the point that both those who are for and against casinos have overplayed their hands.
He made some serious allegations, which showed that the pro-casino lobby has not been playing with a full deck of cards. The pro-casino lobby has not responded to the article and this means that Lambie has exposed that group as not giving the data about the dangers of casinos but rather painting a glossy public relations picture.
FUTURE CAKES OF TOURISM
In a damning article on the pro-casino lobby, Lambie concludes that, "Theme attractions are therefore the future cakes of tourism". In the USA, theme parks attracted 93 million patrons while casinos attracted 12 million. In addition, in 2002 gambling contributed 11 per cent of total tourist revenue in Las Vegas down from 39 per cent 10 years ago. Lambie has been converted to the position of the Church. Many church leaders have stated that developing our heritage as an attraction is a safer bet than casinos. The Port Royal Development Project has enormous potential. There is a movie Pirates of the Caribbean and at Disneyworld in Florida, there is a small section dedicated to the pirates of the Caribbean but Jamaica would have the real thing that would be unique to Jamaica. Jamaica also has the largest collection of Pewter (17th century) artefacts in the world. There are also tens of thousand of other artefacts and Jamaica needs to have museums and the first one should be located in St. James. I know persons who would offer acres of lands in St. James for a museum or theme park. The Jamaica National Heritage Trust is working on Seville in St. Ann but more could be done.
It is really sad that pro-casino lobby consistently display figures of revenue without giving a balanced picture. Casinos are businesses and risks are involved. Casinos have experienced financial problems and some have gone under. But the pro-casino lobby gives the impression that it is a sure winner. If life was so easy, then everybody should start a software company and become rich like Bill Gates or establish a hotel and become successful like the Honourable Butch Stewart. The truth is that the operation of casinos is a risky business and a declining business and there is no guarantee that it will work.
NOT PLAYING A FULL DECK
The pro-casino lobby is not playing with a full deck because it fails to make it clear that what it is desirous of is to make casinos a central piece of the attraction to Jamaica. This must be so since the government has already allowed each hotel to have a maximum of 70 gambling machines. This being so, what is wanted is for the advertisements to attract that segment of the market to Jamaica. But the better thing would be for CARICOM countries to co-operate and market the region. So those who want casinos can go to the Bahamas or Haiti, those who want heritage and reggae should go to Jamaica, those who want calypso go to Trinidad and Tobago and forests and rivers would attract the environmentalist to Guyana. Brand every territory for something just as how Paris is known for the Eiffel Tower and New York for the Empire State Building and what was the Twin Towers.
Unfortunately, Max Lambie overplayed his hand in criticising the Church thereby exposing that he was playing with a deck of cards that had in Jokers. He claims that the church is perpetuating the myth that "casinos are run by gangsters". I have not read, heard or seen any church leader of recent times arguing that myth. He also claimed that the church says that "casino operators manipulate the machines so that the house always wins and in effect defrauds customers". He misunderstands the point. These machines are not pure risks between operators and clients. The machines and their programmes are so structured that patrons will get a certain pre-determined maximum of total revenue. Some allow up to 60 per cent winnings from gambling proceeds. It is like Cable and Wireless having a monopoly with a guaranteed 17 per cent return on investment. The company cannot lose. Similarly, the casino operator cannot lose off those machines.
The pro-casino lobby is either hiding some of the facts or possibly, it has been fed inaccurate intelligence about this risky business called casino gambling. Either way, it must lay all the cards on the table and tell the nation the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth about the pros and cons of casino gambling.
The Rev. Devon Dick is pastor of The Boulevard Baptist Church, St. Andrew.
