As he addressed a media breakfast yesterday for local and international journalists attending Caribbean Marketplace 2011 at the Montego Bay Convention Centre in Rose Hall, St. James, Minister Bartlett said “this year, our casino dream will definitely begin to unfold in a more positive and practical way. We expect that licences will be issued this year and we hope that construction will begin at least on one property before the end of this year.”

He stated that the Commission, which was established to regulate the operations of casinos, is preparing to examine applications for licences. He said the government expects to grant at least three licences over the next three years for casino operations in three main resort areas.  The operations will take place in Montego Bay, Trelawny and at another location on the Western End of the island. Minister Bartlett has highlighted that casino gambling will be introduced and operated in a controlled manner, in order to ensure that it does not define the destination but simply becomes another offering that’s being provided for visitors to Jamaica.

1) Dennis Lalor (insurance executive and horse racing enthusiast)
2) Mark Roberts (digital printing businessman)
3) Afeef Lazarus (attorney-at-law)
4) Dennis Edmunds (Attorney-at-law)
5) Raphael Gordon (Chartered accountant and deputy chairman of Caymanas Track Ltd.).

Their tenure will extend for two years, ending in June 2012.

The legislation had previously been tabled in the House of Representatives in July 2008, but was withdrawn and amended after consultations involving the Office of the Prime Minister, potential investors and other stakeholders.

The Government had announced plans to introduce casino gambling well over a year ago, but this has been on hold pending the passing of the relevant gambling legislation.

Two international investors have already been given the go ahead to establish casinos locally.

The editorial begins – “It is unfortunate that having dithered for so long on the issue, Jamaica is unlikely, in the near term, to reap as much benefit from allowing casinos, as might otherwise have been the case.

But that does not mean that the administration should not proceed, as Prime Minister Bruce Golding has promised to pass the casino law when the Parliament returns from its recess this month, although the Government needs to explain the rationale for establishing a new entity to oversee casinos rather than using the existing Betting, Gaming and Lotteries Commission” … more

Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Audley Shaw, recently tabled a Bill to amend the Act in the House of Representatives. The Act is also being amended consequent on the passage of a Casino Gaming Act, which has also been tabled in the House.

The Bill’s Memorandum of Objects and Reasons states that the amendments are based on recommendations from the Betting, Gaming and Lotteries Commission, to strengthen the regulatory framework, as well as the rules governing the operations of licensees – in order to ensure against criminal influences.

“We spent a long time working on the draft, probably longer than we had hoped, but on Tuesday, Audley Shaw, the finance minister gave notice of tabling the Gaming Bill, and it will be debated in July and then passed into law,” he said.

Prime Minister Golding made the statement in response to a concern raised by mayor of Montego Bay, Charles Sinclair, about the delay in opening up the tourism industry to casino gaming. He also stated that the delay in drafting the casino gambling framework that will govern their operations was a deliberate move by Government, as it wanted to ensure that the country would maximize the benefits that are to be derived from such ventures.

“We spent a lot of time preparing the draft, because we wanted to ensure that every sentence was right: every ‘t’ crossed and every ‘i’ dotted,” he said.

This newly tabled ministry paper has introduced the basis for the gambling legislation – the new Casino Gaming Act – with provisions for a regulatory framework to be administered by a casino gaming commission as well as for a taxation regime. According to the ministry paper, there will be a tax on the gross winnings of the licensee or the amount staked or bet by customers less the amount paid out to customers as winnings. The minister will make regulations covering time, rates of interest on late payments, manner of payment and offences for breaches.

The ministry paper also points out that the diversification of the tourism profile to include luxury-integrated resorts is a priority of the Jamaican Government.

Minister of Tourism, Edmund Bartlett, said that he expects the legislation to be tabled in Parliament very soon. He said that it is a key plank in the process of product diversification for tourism that has been enunciated by himself and Prime Minister Bruce Golding.

Notably, the number of casinos will be restricted and the casino aspect will form no more than 20 per cent of the total scope and cost of each project that is approved.

He indicated that in order to further stimulate the local tourism industry, Cabinet will give the policy the go ahead as quickly as possible.

“Just two days ago (November 5), I signed off with the technical team that we had working on the policy issues that had to be resolved in order to facilitate the introduction of legislation for casino gaming,” Golding said recently.

“My instructions to them are that they must get the bills actually completed so that we can get that legislation into Parliament before the end of November.”

Two licenses to build casinos have already been issued – one to the Tavistock Group that is developing the US$5-billion (J$380-billion) ultra-luxury Harmony Cove resort in Trelawny, and the other to Celebration Jamaica Limited, which is to construct a US$1.8-billion (J$135-billion) 2,080-room resort in neighbouring Rose Hall, St James.

Golding provided the casino update at the signing of the contract with Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines Limited, the Port Authority of Jamaica’s partner in the development of a cruise ship port in Falmouth, Trelawny. The port is expected to be completed before May 2010, and the world’s largest cruise megaliner – The Oasis of the Seas – which is owned by Royal Caribbean, is expected to call.

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