In a presentation of the government’s budget to Parliament in Kingston last week, Prime Minister Bruce Golding argued casino gambling would bring jobs, tourists and revenues to the island. However the Bishop of Jamaica, the Rt Rev and Hon Alfred Reid, along with leaders of the Council of Churches and the Evangelical Association have condemned the move, saying it would be “socially destructive” and hasten the island’s moral decline.
The Rev Peter Garth of the Jamaican Evangelical Association told the Jamaica Observer “this is a very sad day.” Jamaica’s churches “have always said that gambling, including casino gambling; is personally selfish, morally irresponsible and socially destructive.”
