Prime Minister Philip Brave Davis on Monday branded as “desperate” the Free National Movement’s (FNM) pledge to establish a national lottery if it wins the May 12 general election.
FNM Leader Michael Pintard said a national lottery would finance sports, education, youth development, social intervention, and culture.
The commitment is contained in the FNM’s manifesto, released on Sunday night.
Speaking with reporters at Baha Mar Convention Center, Davis said, “This talk about a national lottery seems to be a gimmick, trying to grab headlines. It just speaks of desperation, and it’s really not thought out.”
Pintard said on Sunday the lottery will benefit Bahamians.
“These are areas that have too often struggled for consistent and adequate resources,” he said.
“The national lottery will change that by providing millions of dollars over time to support the development of our young people and the enrichment of national identity.”
Pintard added that countries like the Dominican Republic, Curacao, Saint Martin, and Ghana have a national lottery that benefited their revenue.
But the prime minister suggested the FNM leader is misguided in his thinking.
“And for him to use the Dominican Republic as a model for his national lottery when the national lottery of the Dominican Republic was proven to be such a failure with corruption and fraud and the like, one has to question why [he wants] to have a national lottery,” Davis said.
“Is it for the purpose of a slush fund, for corrupters and fraudsters as the model that he clings onto or embraces has proven to be? It seems to be gimmickry, not thought out; the amount of Bahamians [who] are now in the gaming industry, how their lives will be impacted, how it would impact revenues for the country having regard to the fact that we collect a tremendous amount of taxes from the gaming industry?
“It’s rather odd that you want to turn the treasury into a gaming house.”
In January 2013, the Christie administration held a gambling referendum. It asked voters whether they support the regulation and taxation of web shop gaming and whether they support the establishment of a national lottery.
Those who voted overwhelmingly voted against the measures, but the then-government ignored the will of the voters and regularized web shops.
The Christie administration said that consultants had advised that a national lottery would not be successful in The Bahamas given the size of the population.
