A.W. SangsterREADERS WILL no doubt have seen the full page ads with information on the new lottery company which it is said will start operations in June 2001. The company, Supreme Ventures Ltd., will operate under the name of Win Jamaica Lotteries.
The initial three-man board of directors of Peter Stewart (chairman), Paul Hoo and Ian Levy have contributed share capital of $1m with two other persons, John Graham and Paul Mouttet as non-contributing board members.
I met recently with Mr. Glen Cruickshank, the chairman of the Betting Gaming and Lotteries Commission (BGLC) and Mr. Clive McCulloch, Director of Gaming and Lotteries and discussed the recent granting of the licence to Supreme Ventures as well as the status of the Jamaica Lottery Co. (JLC) Licence.
The New Licence: The application goes back to at least October 1998 as reference is made to that date in a letter of February 1, 2000 to the BGLC by Supreme Ventures Ltd., expressing concern at the long delay. The licence was granted to the company by letter of December 29, 2000 confirming that the licence would become operational on January 11, 2001. My fundamental concerns at the award of the licence remain those that were represented to the Prime Minister in 1999 on the subject of the grant of a licence to the Jamaica Lottery Co. (JLC).
In his reply to my letter the Prime Minister agreed that there was a case to answer in the original award of the licence to the JLC and I quote from his reply over the signature of Chief Advisor Delano Franklin. He conceded that:
"1. The Govern-ment's policy was not effectively made public and
2. It would have been desirable to hold public hearings when such applications were being considered."
I would therefore have to conclude that the BGLC award of the licence to Supreme Ventures Ltd., did not follow the spirit of the Prime Minister's letter in terms of public access or openness.
In addition, the issue of some public ownership was not pursued. In all fairness, the Board of the BGLC which granted this licence were appointed in October 2000. The new chairman argued that he was unaware of the discussion and correspondence with the previous chairman Mr. Gordon Robinson who had agreed that any renewal of the Jamaica Lottery Company's licence would be the subject of a public hearing. It is logical to assume that the new licence arrangement would have followed a similar pattern. Certainly three of the seven members of the new board were members in Mr. Robinson's time and should have been aware of the commitment that was given.
Renewal of the JLC Licence: We turn now to the renewal of the Jamaica Lottery Company (JLC) licence. Contrary to reports in the press the JLC have not yet received a 10-year extension to their current licence. The BGLC have been granting short extensions to their licence with the proviso that the licence would not be extended unless the company went public with its shares and did not participate in any other business ventures.
The current extension is to June 25, 2001 and the JLC is said to be taking steps to meet the required conditions. Will there be any public hearing on this application?
The Issues: The bald fact is that a new licence has been granted to Supreme Ventures Ltd., and the company expects to start operations in June. The stated expectations of some $4 billion in sales, is an indication of the state of the country and the people's hopes to get rich this way. What we have essentially is the expansion of a non-productive enterprise. The pyramid schemes when will people learn from others' mistakes? The heavy betting on cock fighting, the eagerness to jump at quick cash offers, are all indications of the get-rich-quick syndrome which has become all pervasive.
This is one of the components of our new national value system. The negative effects of gambling are not hard to see and some of the arguments against gambling are:
It is addictive and a small start can lead to a lifetime of gambling.
It can and has destroyed many families through the bread winner's succumbing to the temptation to gamble.
It negates the work ethic which argues that success has to be based on honest toil.
It contributes to laziness with the associated fantasy of getting rich quickly at the expense of others.
It is an unproductive form of economic activity.
On June 18, 1999 the National Gambling Impact Study Commission (NGISC) report was submitted to Congress in the USA.
The study was conducted over a two-year period. Dr. James Dobson, one of the Commissioners, in a newsletter made the following comments:
"The central mission of the NGISC was to study the various implications of gambling and to assess the scope of the problem of pathological gambling and its effects on individuals and families.
The Commission's findings, from any reasonable perspective, depict a depth of pain and devastation in this country that compels a change in the way betting activity is regarded.
Clearly gambling is a destroyer that ruins lives and wrecks families.
A mountain of evidence presented to our Commission demonstrates a direct link between pathological gambling and the problems of divorce, child abuse, domestic violence, bankruptcy, crime and suicide". Would a Jamaican study reveal similar findings?
Lotteries are bad news for any country or society.
A.W. Sangster is for president of the University of Technology.
