By Garwin Davis, Assistant News EditorTIGHTER CONTROLS and tougher enforcement of gaming laws would enable the Government to cash in on millions of dollars now being lost to illegal bookmakers, according to the Betting Gaming and Lotteries Commission (BGLC).
The BGLC, the gaming industry's main regulatory agency, says that unlicensed vendors and illegal bookmakers have been taking significant chunks from the lucrative gambling sector, subtracting from revenues which would otherwise have gone to Government coffers.
"With stronger enforcement, the Government would be taking in a lot more than it has been getting ... easily doubling whatever it's getting now," said attorney-at-law Walter Scott, chairman of the BGLC, in an interview with The Gleaner on Thursday.
"Let me give you an example. For the calendar year 2002, $5.1 million was collected from gaming machines. I came here on the 2nd of January 2003 and since then, we have launched a campaign to go after the unlicensed machines. At the end of March - in only three months - we have collected $18.7 million.
"Government makes $10,000 off each machine in tax. We have another 3,000 machines we are targeting. There is potentially - if one should go by these figures - another $30 million out there for the Government," Mr. Scott said.
BAMBLING ACTIVITIES
Last week Monday, the Government announced that it would be embarking on a programme to ensure gambling activities throughout the island were properly monitored and regulated. Burchell Whiteman, Information Minister, said total annual sales recorded in the gaming industry last year were $17.4 billion, with just under $1 billion going to the Consolidated Fund. He singled out horse-racing as the gaming entity with the most potential, noting that it had to be both strengthened and properly monitored.
Mr. Scott said that one of the constraints facing his department was not having a strong enough enforcement team, adding, "We could do well with some beefing it up."
Noting that the Government was considering expanding "our enforcement team," Mr. Scott said that "the team is currently made up of a director and three other persons. They are out there performing heroically - like Trojans. Last year, despite the odds, they made 94 arrests of persons involved in illegal horse-racing and illegal lottery. We have had 64 convictions and several other matters are still pending before the courts."
LUCRATIVE NATURE
Mr. Scott said the huge sums being raked in by lottery companies annually was a significant indicator as to the lucrative nature of the gaming industry, noting that there was still a sizeable amount going into the pockets of unlicensed operators.
He said the BGLC has "a basket of legislation", which will be submitted by the end of April to the Ministry of Finance, calling for substantial changes to the laws governing gaming. "No country in the world has ever been able to eliminate illegal bookmaking and we are no different," Mr. Scott said. "We can, however, reduce it by having stronger enforcement and tougher penalties for those caught in the act."
And exactly how much are the lottery companies losing?
Suzette Smellie-Tomlinson, marketing manager for Supreme Ventures, promoters of the popular Cash Pot, Lucky Five and Dollaz games, said "We really don't have a grip [of] the statistics to prove how much we are losing to illegal vendors. I can tell you though that since our inception in June 2001, our gross sales have been $16.6 billion. We have paid out over $720 million to good causes and $1.6 billion to the Government. Imagine if we didn't have the illegal vendors tapping in on our sales. It goes without saying that the Government would benefit more by having better rules, regulations and transparency everybody would benefit."
