No official gambling report from UK consultants
A recent headline in the Nassau Guardian stated that the
prime minister of the Bahamas advised the Bahamian people that no official
report was prepared by the UK consultants who recently braced our shores. He
said that the media could question the consultants as to their findings about
gambling in the Bahamas.
Let me be first to say that this is utter nonsense and a
disrespect to Bahamians far and near. How can the prime minister, who is also
the Minister of Finance expect us to swallow the notion these consultants who
flew in from half way across the world on our tax payers dollars were not made
to prepare an official report?
Last month, the prime minister mysteriously said that he was
reviewing the consultant’s report but now he is saying that he has a ‘few pages
of advice” from the consultants.
If there is no report on this issue as the prime minister
has most recently said, then I charge him and the government with dereliction of
duty at the highest order. Receiving a report for services rendered is such a
basic expectation that even a “cave man” would expect it.
This is certainly not the way that this issue should have
been handled. I think that the consultants coming to the Bahamas was just a
farce and the prime minister now seems to have had a predisposition on the
gambling issue.
Some may ask why the government members in parliament aren’t
publicly voicing their concerns. Have they now fallen in line and are turning a
blind eye to the injustices that Bahamians face as previous government members have
done? I guess the hefty salaries and privileges have finally succeeded in
giving our current members of parliament and high ranking government officials blurred
vision.
Bahamians are more confused than ever about gambling in the
country and the government of the day should not be creating confusion among
its citizenry. We need clear and concise information so that we can make
informed decisions.
I think this matter has been poorly handled to date and I
call on the prime minister to postpone the referendum and effectively deal with
the whole issue of gambling in the country. He should also cause an official
report to be produced as to the consultants’ findings so that this can be
tabled in parliament and be scrutinized by the Bahamian people.
Dehavilland Moss
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