Howard Hamilton - Horse Sense RECENTLY OUR examination of some of the ugly sides of gambling served to highlight the critical need for regulators of the highest integrity.
This week we provide further insights into the need for a strong regulatory framework to prevent excesses in the gaming industry.
As with other sectors of the economy, the gaming industry must be structured and run on the basis of sound business practices and in conformity with this, political favours must never be of any importance. Those appointed to positions of authority in the gaming industry must realise that their private lives must be above question and, in fact, that private lives become part of the public domain when we accept an offer to serve.
Accepting paid trips to visit overseas "operations" of those whom we regulate cannot be acceptable.
Unfortunately some of our regulators have been less than circumspect in carrying out the duties with which they have been entrusted.
When I was asked as Chairman of the Finance Committee of the National Sports Council to find a permanent funding programme for the development of our youth through sports, little did I realise that the success (after losing some J$114 million in the first attempt) of that programme would have led to the political envy and covetousness, which wittingly or unwittingly caused the demise of that programme (Michael Manley, whose brainchild it was, is probably turning in his grave).
Somehow the government got lost in the euphoria of the potential of an expanded gaming industry. With the desire for more money, there was never the attention to the consequences of such an expansion nor was sufficient thought given to the level of knowledge and skills that a proper regulatory body would require.
It appears that the effects of such expansion on other long-standing gaming activities were ignored, as were the inevitable social costs that would result. What we have today is the manifestation of some of those negatives that people find socially unacceptable and which have been at the forefront of the arguments against gambling.
DETAILED STUDY OF
THE GAMING INDUSTRY
We need to now step back and determine where we are and where we want to go. The Betting Gaming and Lotteries Commission is on the right track in seeking to have a detailed study of the gaming industry. The Private Sector Organisation is involved in a detailed study of the value of a formally structured casino operation and how this can enhance our tourism product. All of this indicates that we will soon have the basis for a comprehensive gaming policy. We must now seek to correct the errors that we have made.
It is my belief that we will need a total revamping of our regulations to ensure that we:
Prevent minors from gambling
Prevent criminals from owning or working in the gaming industry
Prevent increases in crimes such as prostitution, drug dealers, loan sharks, etc.
Prevent gamblers from being defrauded
Protect gamblers from having false beliefs about the nature of gambling activities
Reduce the risk that people will become "problem gamblers" or gambling addicts
Prevent the gambling industry from being used for money laundering.
We hope that with all the information that is now available, both locally and internationally, our decision makers will not be unrealistic or confused about that which they wish to achieve in determining an appropriate gaming policy.
Let us not get carried away with the fact that under properly regulated circumstances, gambling can yield abnormally high tax revenues, attract tourists, lead to investments in urban renewal projects and create jobs for the unemployed.
Government can get carried away and conclude that the more gambling of all sorts which they legalise, the more of all the good things that they will obtain. This is just not so because one activity tends to compete with the other, as we have seen recently with the problems which the racing industry faces because of the proliferation of fixed odds numbers games.
The problems of money laundering are becoming of increasing concern to the gaming industry internationally and are now evident here at home.
Next week we will look at some of the problems that have arisen in the gaming industry as a result of the expansion of lottery games, without a clear understanding of how these will impact on other sectors of the industry, and most importantly the regulations that are needed.
Howard L. Hamilton has recently been appointed chairman of the Jamaica Lottery Company Limited and is a former chairman of Racing Promotions Limited. He is the current president of the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association and can be contacted at howham@cwjamaica.com.
