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For years I have been trying to figure out why the Church has issues when it comes to casinos, as opposed to everything else that goes on in society and for years I have failed to come up with a plausible answer. They were at it again recently at the annual farce known as the National Prayer Breakfast.
Perhaps a spokesperson from the Church would care to open our eyes and let us into the light as to exactly why they have this collective meltdown when it comes to the legalisation of casinos.
For the past two years I had been living in St. Maarten, a tiny little island out in the eastern Caribbean. They have a pretty high standard of living, the minimum wage there is US$640 a month; that's approximately J$45,000 a month, there is very little major crime and they also have about 12 casinos.
Do casinos contribute to crime? I really don't know. In St. Maarten they have robbed a couple casinos and I am sure that if they were legalised here some would be robbed but what establishment isn't at risk where there is an abundance of criminals? What I do know is that on average each casino on the Antillean island generates profits of about US$10 million a month and they employ hundreds of people; waiters, dealers, floor bosses, accountants, you name it, the casinos employ them. And the pay is good.
Huge potential
Now translate that scenario to Jamaica and what you have is a potentially huge industry employing thousands of people and generating a brand new revenue source for our cash-strapped government. There are taxes to be earned from the wages of the employed and from the potentially huge profits these casinos generate.
Certainly we cannot dismiss claims that people will throw away their money at these casinos and many families could be hard hit, but is that a reason not to create jobs, is that a reason not to create a brand new source of revenue for government and the potential to attract a brand new type of tourist here in Jamaica?
People will always be stupid that way. They will work hard for an entire week or month and then throw their money away in one night at the casino. They sure do it now at Caymanas Park, they do it now at the record number of bars across the island, and they do it now with the women and men they have on the side. Are casinos going to create a problem we're not already experiencing? No, they're not.
As for these claims about creating a culture of gambling, that's just a bunch of hogwash. Living in Jamaica these days is already a gamble. You roll the dice every time you step out your front door, every time you drive the highways, every time you go to a party, so what's the big deal if you take a gamble that could turn your life around in a positive way?
And besides, there is already the race track, the Pick 3, the Lottery, countless bingo games and there is talk of creating a city lottery to generate money to fix roads, so what's the big deal?
There is an ad that one casino here runs in the daily papers that said it paid out $465 million last year, that's US$6 million dollars. So, let's say there was a 15 per cent tax on those winnings, that's a million dollars right there that goes to government coffers.
Also, imagine how much money they have left over as profit that would attract the usual rates? Imagine what a couple dozen of these establishments could do to boost our economy and take a few thousand potential criminals off our streets by providing jobs for them and create a whole new industry that eventually would employ tens of thousands of people and you can see why legalising casinos is not something to be debated but something that should be done for the economic future of this island.
I implore the church leaders to get off their high horses and get real. God helps those who help themselves, or so I am told. Casinos would be a step in that direction.
Send comments to
shearer39@gmail.com
Perhaps a spokesperson from the Church would care to open our eyes and let us into the light as to exactly why they have this collective meltdown when it comes to the legalisation of casinos.
For the past two years I had been living in St. Maarten, a tiny little island out in the eastern Caribbean. They have a pretty high standard of living, the minimum wage there is US$640 a month; that's approximately J$45,000 a month, there is very little major crime and they also have about 12 casinos.
Do casinos contribute to crime? I really don't know. In St. Maarten they have robbed a couple casinos and I am sure that if they were legalised here some would be robbed but what establishment isn't at risk where there is an abundance of criminals? What I do know is that on average each casino on the Antillean island generates profits of about US$10 million a month and they employ hundreds of people; waiters, dealers, floor bosses, accountants, you name it, the casinos employ them. And the pay is good.
Huge potential
Now translate that scenario to Jamaica and what you have is a potentially huge industry employing thousands of people and generating a brand new revenue source for our cash-strapped government. There are taxes to be earned from the wages of the employed and from the potentially huge profits these casinos generate.
Certainly we cannot dismiss claims that people will throw away their money at these casinos and many families could be hard hit, but is that a reason not to create jobs, is that a reason not to create a brand new source of revenue for government and the potential to attract a brand new type of tourist here in Jamaica?
People will always be stupid that way. They will work hard for an entire week or month and then throw their money away in one night at the casino. They sure do it now at Caymanas Park, they do it now at the record number of bars across the island, and they do it now with the women and men they have on the side. Are casinos going to create a problem we're not already experiencing? No, they're not.
As for these claims about creating a culture of gambling, that's just a bunch of hogwash. Living in Jamaica these days is already a gamble. You roll the dice every time you step out your front door, every time you drive the highways, every time you go to a party, so what's the big deal if you take a gamble that could turn your life around in a positive way?
And besides, there is already the race track, the Pick 3, the Lottery, countless bingo games and there is talk of creating a city lottery to generate money to fix roads, so what's the big deal?
There is an ad that one casino here runs in the daily papers that said it paid out $465 million last year, that's US$6 million dollars. So, let's say there was a 15 per cent tax on those winnings, that's a million dollars right there that goes to government coffers.
Also, imagine how much money they have left over as profit that would attract the usual rates? Imagine what a couple dozen of these establishments could do to boost our economy and take a few thousand potential criminals off our streets by providing jobs for them and create a whole new industry that eventually would employ tens of thousands of people and you can see why legalising casinos is not something to be debated but something that should be done for the economic future of this island.
I implore the church leaders to get off their high horses and get real. God helps those who help themselves, or so I am told. Casinos would be a step in that direction.
Send comments to
shearer39@gmail.com
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