Bahamas: Chamber director supports legalization of gambling

According to Dr. Jonathon Rodgers, it would be the first step for The Bahamas in following what many other developed nations have done to mitigate their social problems. "Every other Caribbean country has it right now, the question really is why don't we have one," he told members of the press at a recent BCC event. "To put in perspective the us$ 600 million guys are making can take care of our entire educational needs and national insurance."

The Pearl Vision head also suggested that government could use the British model for streamlining the activity, where nearly all of the money is pumped back into the country's social programs. "In the UK, 95 % of the money from lotteries goes to health care, education, culture, sports and churches," he said. "The people who run the lottery there only keep 5 %of the monies and they actually keep half of one percent."

His comments come as the government's revenue collection efforts plummet. The National Insurance Board (NIB) has announced pending changes to benefits and contributions — a move centered around enhancing the viability of its fund. It's a course of action that not only includes prosecuting employers and self-employed persons who are delinquent in contributions, but charging interest on all contributions paid after the due date.

"Successive actuarial reviews have indicated that the fund is not sustainable in the long-term at the current contribution rate and benefit promises," Director Algernon Cargill asserted in the Oxford Business Group's 2009 report on The Bahamas. "We therefore intend to use a combination of contribution rate adjustments and changes to certain benefit rules that are currently too generous, to extend the life of benefit reserves."

To date, there has been no date offered on when these changes could be expected, though Cargill has announced emphasis will be placed on revenue collection. Still, it's one of the first times National Insurance directly addressed the long standing issue of the fund's viability. It's a situation Rodgers believes could be simplified with the legalization of gambling.