Howard Hamilton

Readers will have noticed that this column is in favour of legalised casino gaming in Jamaica. This columnist is unable to suppress a boiling sense of frustration at the enormous disadvantage at which we have put ourselves by neglecting this important entertainment feature that so invigorate the tourism industries of competing destinations. In fact, it is our political leadership that has placed us at this disadvantage.

This writer is of the firm conviction that, should the issue be placed before the public in a plebiscite, or referendum, there would be over-whelming support for the idea. If, then, our political parties are representative of the will of the people, why would they continue to buck and shuffle when confronted with this issue.

Conventional wisdom has it that the parties fear an adverse reaction from factions of the Church in Jamaica, which would find expression in boycott or even direct opposition and the attendant loss of a large block of votes. Yet, other countries have faced and overcome such resistance and it is those countries that find themselves almost completely recovered from the impact of the events of September 11, 2001, on their tourism-based economies.

I have personally been at the brunt of my own church's one-sided view on this matter and have been denied the privilege of worship over a difference of opinion as to whether it is somehow unchristianlike of me to earn an income from gaming related activity as innocuous as a lottery.

Inner potential

This is ironic, given the enormous amount of good that the lotto has done for Jamaicans, and I speak not only of the thousands of winners, whose lives have been enriched, but of the hundreds of young Jamaicans, many of whom would have little chance in life, who were given the opportunity to develop and unleash their inner potential through sports. I also speak of the many important contributions to the health service and, last but certainly not least, of the huge contribution lotto has made to government revenue through taxation.

Jamaica continues to escalate its output of illegal immigrants to points throughout the Caribbean. Significantly, at most of the points targeted by our people who are so desperate for work and a better life, they risk their lives as 'drug mules' and their souls as prostitutes to these destinations. On closer analysis, we find that the healthier economies among the very small island economies that are proving so attractive to our people, a disproportionately high number use gaming to help fire its main economic piston - tourism.

Of course, we are above such things. Our leaders have committed us to a more spartan path of misguided puritanism. We continue to 'develop' a gaming industry without any thought or analysis of how one activity impacts with another. While adopting a puritanical view to casino gaming, we have allowed 80 per cent of a casino activity (slot machines) unbridled existence with limited controls and relatively little income to Government.

Straightforward gambling

We have turned lotteries which are traditionally games of fun and fantasy into games of chance and straightforward gambling with no thought as to what impact these would have on other more entrenched gambling activities. Thus, while there is boastful talk of expanded lottery market the racing industry - an employee of some 30,000 people - is floundering in a quagmire of reduced sales and reduced popularity.

We cannot develop like this and someone has to explain to the decision makers that "matter can neither be created nor destroyed" - for someone to win, someone has to lose. Currently, the only winner is Government with the hundreds of millions of dollars in tax revenue being sucked from the system.

P.S.:

This week end promises to be filled with the excitement that makes thoroughbred horse racing truly the sport of kings. Cash Plus must be commended on taking advantage of the tremendous marketing potential that thoroughbred racing offers.The excitement kicks off this Friday evening with a masked 'Ball' at Morgan's Harbour Hotel. On Saturday, the much-awaited clash of MIRACLE MAN and DISTINCTLY IRISH should bring thousands to the Park. Added to that, MUSICAL MAESTRO will stamp his class as a top-class sprinter and cement his claim to be chosen Horse of the Year. On Sunday, the annual Yearling Sale, attracting many overseas buyers, will bring down the curtain on, what everyone expects to be, a glorious weekend.