The Tribune

By AVA TURNQUEST

Tribune Chief Reporter

aturnquest@tribunemedia.net

THE Gaming Board foundation set up for the charitable use of funds from the web shop gaming sector has accrued $3m, according to Tourism Minister Obie Wilchcombe yesterday.

Mr Wilchcombe said it was up to the government to decide how the funds will be used.

The foundation was set out in the Gaming Act’s Regulations, and Retired Justice Neville Adderley chairs its board of directors.

During his contribution to a $150m bond resolution to help cover hurricane related expenses in the House of Assembly, Mr Wilchcombe also acknowledged that the government was open to consideration of a national lottery to finance national development.

He pointed out that many countries have employed such an initiative to assist with sporting and education.

Touting the philanthropic efforts of operators in the industry, he noted that gaming houses employ 3,600 Bahamians by comparison to the just over 1,000 Bahamians employed by hotel-based casinos.

He added that gaming houses pay higher taxes and receive fewer concessions from the government.

The tourism minister also pushed back against criticism of the tourism model, underscoring that the major challenge was finding a way to scale back on concessions.

During his contribution, Mr Wilchcombe, the MP for West End and Bimini, also made an impassioned appeal to invest in hurricane-battered rural communities rather than abandon them.

“When you look at what is happened, again, and I hear the arguments about moving the people,” he said. “I’m not sure that’s the resolution for the problem. I think the resolution to the problem is that the government has to put money into these areas, and not just put patch money. I think the government of the Bahamas, successive governments need to do this for true redevelopment.

“We have a chance, that’s how I see this, I see this as a new opportunity because God ensured that no one died so we have an opportunity to look at West End in particular and see how we can cause this place which is still the capital of Grand Bahama to be redeveloped.

“What we are going to put in place, it will cost a lot of money, millions of dollars, no question about it, but these areas cannot just be considered settlements, they must be considered as communities where people live, work, where the economy can grow.”