The Baha’i, Christian, Hindu and Muslim communities have issued a joint call to the government to withdraw the Gambling (Amendment) Bill scheduled for debate and passage in Parliament tomorrow.
The statement was submitted by the Anjuman Hifazatul-Islam, Central Islamic Organisation of Guyana (CIOG), Guyana Council of Churches, Guyana Hindu Dharmic Sabha, Guyana Islamic Trust (GIT), Baha’i National Spiritual Assembly, Georgetown Ministers’ Fellowship, Guyana Evangelical Fellowship and the Guyana Islamic Relief Organisation (GIRO).
They are also calling on the leadership of each political party to allow their Members of Parliament to vote according to their conscience, and not according to the party line. The religious leaders also want members of the public to urgently contact MPs to express dissatisfaction with the lack of proper consultation and to encourage them to vote against the passage of the bill.
The religious community’s joint statement was read to the media at the Headquarters of the Guyana Islamic Trust (GIT) on Lombard Street yesterday by Chairman of the Guyana Council of Churches Reverend Alphonso Porter. It said that the legislation to be amended was originally enacted to prevent gambling and to protect society from its harmful consequences but they were now witnessing the government attempting to allow one of the most extreme forms of gambling.
The religious leaders contended that the government has shown no evidence to support its arguments regarding economic benefits and the advancement of tourism, nor has it put forward strategies to respond to the negative social consequences, which government officials have accepted would result.
Expressing alarm at what appears to be the development of a trend of moving away from “constructive engagement” to unilateral decision-making, the religious leaders said they viewed “very seriously”, this apparent disregard for the views of Guyanese and as such were committed to using all lawful means to prevent the bill from being made law.
They noted that even before the general and regional elections were held they had voiced their concerns to President Bharrat Jagdeo who had given assurances that there would have been wide consultation before any concrete steps were taken.
The statement said that as representatives of the religious community representing an overwhelming majority of Guyanese (some 95% based on the 2002 census) they were categorically opposed to the legalisation of casino gambling since many important studies revealed that commercialised gambling could lead to grave, negative social, economic and political consequences.
They said they firmly believed that the cost to the society of coping with the social consequences of casino gambling would far outweigh the value of any revenue collected.
Emphasising that the threat to the well-being of the nation by casino gambling was real, the joint statement said the correlation between legalized gambling and the increase in crime, alcoholism, substance abuse, suicide, prostitution and the destruction of the institution of the family, was well established.
It noted, too, that casino gambling appeared to be a haven for money laundering and the pursuit of other nefarious activities.
At the first reading of the bill on January 11, the Christian community presented a petition signed by some 40,000 persons calling on the government to withdraw the bill and hold widespread consultations on the issue.
At the same sitting, the Central Islamic Organisation of Guyana also wrote letters to each MP expressing its opposition to the bill and asking that they vote against it.
Voicing their organisations’ individual concerns at yesterday’s briefing were representatives of the CIOG, GIT and the GIRO.
In his remarks, GIRO’s Chief Executive Officer Shazad Khan noted that the organisation has been dealing with a number of the social ills already being seen as a result of legalised gambling, particularly horse-racing, in Guyana. He noted that some husbands, who are now addicted, would use their hard earned money to bet on horse racing leaving their wives and children to fend for themselves. The GIRO has to help these families including sending their children to school and providing sustenance.
Expressing concern that a government official could remark that the religious community should stay out of matters of the state, he said Muslims were concerned that those who were given the authority by the people to make decisions on their behalf are not consulting.
Executive Member of the CIOG Shahabuddin Mc Doom said the kinds of attacks and insults that some government MPs were throwing at the religious community were not in the people’s interest, but were about promoting themselves.
Head of GIT, Wazir Baksh said that during the meeting with Prime Minister Sam Hinds, GIT asked the government for empirical evidence that what it was espousing had greater economic than social consequences. He said that the Prime Minister admitted that there was no empirical evidence for Guyana in this regard.
CIOG Head, Fazeel Ferouz also disclosed to the media that the religious community was also seeking an audience with President Jagdeo on the issue before tomorrow’s sitting at which the bill is expected to be debated.
Apart from the religious community the Guyana Human Rights Association is also calling on the government to withdraw the bill and the main opposition PNCR-1G has expressed its opposition to the bill as well.
PNCR-IG MP Volda Lawrence took the Christian community’s petition to Parliament and AFC MP Sheila Holder also moved a motion in Parliament calling for the bill to be withdrawn until a study was conducted on the positives and negatives of casino gambling. The motion was debated and defeated by the government’s majority in the house last week.
The bill is being rushed through parliament to facilitate casino gambling for the Cricket World Cup 2007. This is in keeping with a disclosure President Jagdeo made at the dedication of the Guyana National Stadium at Providence, East Bank Demerara in December last year. (Miranda La Rose)
