Fort Charlotte MP Dr. Andre Rollins criticized the Christie administration yesterday over the discriminatory elements in the Gaming Bill and charged that the government’s “hypocrisy” on the gaming issue will be “enough to cause it to be fired at the next general election”. Rollins also suggested that the provision in the bill that prohibits Bahamians from gambling in casinos is worse than the racial discrimination black Americans suffered during the segregation era. He said the discriminatory elements of the law have essentially made “criminals of our people”. “Anytime in a country you have two sets of laws, one for one group and another for another group, you open the door to law breaking,” said Rollins, who announced that he does not support the bill. “We must recognize the sensitivity of this issue and the implications of our actions in this place. How can we say that civil servants who go on strike will result in the government seeing to it that they are fired from their precious jobs because by their actions they are breaking the law, but in the next voice say that Bahamians who have admittedly broken the law by engaging in illegal gaming will not just keep their businesses but be legitimized by that very same government? “The hypocrisy of that and the message that it sends to the public will be enough in and of itself to cause the government to be fired at the next general election.” Rollins was referring to statements made by Labour Minister Shane Gibson, who said the industrial action carried out by members of the Trade Union of Congress (TUC) this week will leave them exposed to “action by their employers”. As it relates to the bill, Rollins said just as the government supports gender equality, it should level the playing field as it relates to gaming. While the bill does include the discriminatory elements that prohibit people ordinarily resident in The Bahamas from gambling in casinos and visitors from gambling in web shops, it also contains a provision that would allow the minister with responsibility for gaming to override those discriminatory elements. But Rollins said the bill suggests that foreigners are more “entitled and privileged” than Bahamians. “Successive governments since majority rule have taught Bahamians that they are not equal to foreigners and less civilized than foreigners,” Rollins said. “This is no better than the way that Rosa Parks and blacks were treated in the days of segregation in the United States. “In fact, blacks and Rosa Parks were treated better in the United States because at least they were allowed to be customers on the same bus as the white riders. “This legislation says Bahamians can’t even ride on the same bus. We should never tolerate a situation in The Bahamas where we are not only separate but also unequal.” Rollins also suggested that the government bring legislation that would end the perception that the government is doing favors for its political donors. Otherwise, he said, the Progressive Liberal Party would continue to be viewed as a “corrupt party”. “The perception exists and we would be fooling ourselves if we thought that it didn’t,”he said. “And what I’m saying is that a major part of this debate should be to eliminate those kinds of concerns and to empower the government to ensure that we don’t suffer from what I call a deficit of trust. “This legislation should be accompanied by campaign finance legislation... We should also be accompanying this with freedom of information legislation. If we don’t do it, the PLP, which is a party that I am a member of, will continue to suffer from the public perception that we are corrupt or we support corrupt practices.” Rollins said Bahamians are already becoming more cynical about the government. He added that the attention the government has given the gambling issue will add to the cynicism and distrust. He noted that the government has yet to present legislation to help Bahamians struggling with mortgage payments, or to lower the cost of electricity. The government did bring its mortgage relief plan to Parliament several months after taking office, but it was unsuccessful. It has promised a new plan. “Are Bahamian homeowners and consumers less important than web shop owners and operators?” Rollins asked. “We said we believe in Bahamians, but our actions thus far have made it difficult for Bahamians to believe in us.” Rollins added that he still believes that the PLP has the capacity to reflect change.
Posted on: Fri, 12 Sep 2014 16:21:25 +0000
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