By CMC - Monday, November 5th, 2012.
?The referendum will put to the Bahamian people the question as to whether they feel that so-called ?web caf?? or ?web shop? gaming should be legalized subject to strict licensing and bonding requirements, stringent regulatory supervision, and the payment by licensed operators of substantial license fees and taxes,? he said.
Christie, whose government came to power in the general election in May, said that gambling legalization for web shop gaming owners will finalize a new source of government revenue and will facilitate new areas for local employment.
He said that a license fee, in an amount to be determined, but certainly not less than one million US dollars, coupled with a performance bond would be required to be put up upon the award of a license.
The Prime Minister said that this would be in addition to the annual taxes that would be payable, based on the revenues of the licensed web shops, similar to the taxation structure that applies to casinos.
Prime Minister Christie said that in addition to paying the license fees and taxes, web shops would also be required to contribute to the cost of implementing the new laws and regulations for web shops.
?The proceeds of which would be primarily used to help fund educational scholarships, athletic and sporting development, the development of music and the arts including junkanoo, and a broad range of essential community, health, infrastructural, recreational and social outreach facilities and programmes, both public and private, throughout the Bahamas.?
He said his administration had also agreed that it would use ?web shop? gaming, as the precise phrase to identify ?the style of gaming? in the question put before referendum voters.
?Based on the considered advice of the government?s UK-based international specialist consultants, it is no longer considered that a national lottery would be commercially viable at this time.
?Thus, lotteries will continue to be illegal for the indefinite future unless, of course, certificates of exemption are issued from time to time under the Lotteries & Gaming Act, as indeed has been the historical practice for special, single-event purposes considered worthy by the competent authority, such as church bazaar raffles and the like.
?Similarly, neither the extension of casino gambling nor the removal of the prohibition on casino gambling by Bahamian citizens and residents will be the subject of the forthcoming referendum.
?Thus, the conduct of casino gambling will continue to be unlawful for the indefinite future unless a Casino License is issued in accordance with the Lotteries & Gaming Act ? and I hasten to add that no additional casino licences are contemplated at this time.
?To be completely clear, therefore, the forthcoming referendum will focus only on web shop gaming,? Prime Minister Christie said, adding ? my government and party will maintain a position of complete neutrality on the referendum question.
?We will not campaign for or against either side to the question, nor will we offer any encouragement for either a YES vote or a NO vote.? We are going to stay out of the fray and let the Bahamian people decide what they want without any cajoling or coaxing one way or the other,? Prime Minister Christie said.
Source: http://www.antiguaobserver.com/?p=83382
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