Responding to a question yesterday during his party’s weekly press conference, Corbin said his party had not changed its position on the issue from when it was first debated in the National Assembly in 2007.
Corbin said that at that time, the members of the PNCR were allowed a free vote on the matter and the majority of them had voted against casinos.
These objections were made on the grounds that the country was not ready for such establishments and that such a move was not a positive development for the nation.
Corbin asserted that his party, which was not in support of the establishment of casinos then, has not changed its position and will not support a move to allow locals to freely patronise casinos. He said that the recent suggestion only gives merit to suggestions made previously that the government had agreed to the legislation permitting foreigners and guests of the hotels into casinos, to ease the burden of passing that legislation. Corbin said a move to change this would be a case of the administration breaking its promise not only to the PNCR and Parliament, but also to a number of stakeholders.
President Bharrat Jagdeo on Friday, during the ceremonial opening of the US$2 million casino, strongly hinted that his administration may amend the law regarding casino gambling to allow Guyanese the freedom to patronize local casinos, as he stated that it was “bothersome” to a government which believed in giving its citizens choices.
Since then, opposition parties and members of the religious community have indicated their uneasiness with the Head of State’s statement, saying that it contradicted what he had promised three years ago when the controversial Gambling Prevention (Amendment) Bill was passed.
