It is unfortunate that having dithered for so long on the issue, Jamaica is unlikely, in the near term, to reap as much benefit from allowing casinos, as might otherwise have been the case.

But that does not mean that the administration should not proceed, as Prime Minister Bruce Golding has promised to pass the casino law when the Parliament returns from its recess this month, although the Government needs to explain the rationale for establishing a new entity to oversee casinos rather than using the existing Betting, Gaming and Lotteries Commission.

Should the Government's resolve need stiffening in the face of a feared assault from a vocal minority, we advise that the administration look to developments in Kansas, one of the most conservative states in America, which had long looked askance at gambling.

Like Jamaica, Kansas is facing financial problems and has had to reduce spending on services. So, the state is getting into casino as an owner. They will allow developers to build and kit out the casinos as well as pay an upfront licence.

Share management control

However, it is Kansas that will own the games and the software determining winners. The state will share management control of the operating companies as well as the revenue. The expectation is that the games will help bring in cash to fund state projects, as does the US$50 million a year it currently earns from casino licences.

We do not suggest that this is a model that Jamaica ought to embrace but it highlights the fact that others, too, see value in casino gaming and that competition for investment, especially in these tough times, is likely to become even more intense.

The truth is, gamblers around the world are not crowding the roulette or poker tables quite as they did not so long ago. Indeed, many of the big gaming companies are financially stretched and, from Macau to Las Vegas, new casino/hotels, of the scale that Jamaica hopes to attract, have been placed on hold. Bankers, still reeling from the financial meltdown, are stingy with their cash, demanding steel-clad assurance of ability to repay before they finance projects.

Prepare for recovery

Jamaica, nonetheless, must prepare itself for the inevitable recovery of an industry which, in the United States, generates an estimated US$60 billion in revenue - that is, bets net of winnings. The punters will be back and many will be looking for new venues in which to have a flutter.

In any event, Prime Minister Bruce Golding has suggested that at least one of the companies - Celebration Jamaica - that gave pre-meltdown commitments to establish casino/hotel complexes in Jamaica remains strongly committed to the project.

"I am excited by how they are excited and I have given them an undertaking that we will try to have this legislation as soon as possible," Mr Golding told this newspaper's editors.

Celebration Jamaica, we recall, planned to spend US$1.8 billion on a project that would entail 2,080 hotel rooms at Rose Hall, St James. The Tavistock Group, with regard to the proposed Harmony Cove development in Trelawny, proposes more than 8,000, clustered around a casino.

These projects, assuming that they happen, will generate thousands of jobs and generate hundreds of millions in economic activity. At the very least, we should be ready to grasp the possibility.

The opinions on this page, except for the above, do not necessarily reflect the views of The Gleaner. To respond to a Gleaner editorial, email us: editor@gleanerjm.com or fax: 922-6223. Responses should be no longer than 400 words. Not all responses will be published.