Long Island Member of Parliament , Adrian Gibson in contribution to the budget debate in the House of Assembly called for the establishment of a national lottery.
“The expansion and proliferation of web shops throughout the Bahamas has caused concern, frankly, on islands such as Long Island, where we have 15 to 20 web shops, local communities have been negatively impacted in many cases,” he said.
“Frankly, I think that web shop taxes could be even higher than they are currently pegged. When contrasted to the UK and elsewhere, these operations are being taxed on the lower end.”
According to Gibson, greater regularization is needed in the local gaming industry.
“The creation of a national lottery would yield far greater returns that web shops where the profits are concentrated in the hands of a few.
“The establishment of a national lottery would lessen the burden on taxpayers and assuage governmental budgetary constraints as it relates to road repairs, funds for schools and government buildings, constructing and upgrading of parks, increase the pay of government workers and so on all while creating a handful of millionaires lucky enough to win a jackpot,” Gibson said.
“There can be lottery tickets and scratch cards and different types of draws, with the jackpot being the biggest prize,” he added.
The MP said the country’s fiscal position, calls for serious measures.
“What the government ought to be doing is controlling or decreasing spending with taxation, not increasing, he said.
“We are in a much challenged fiscal position and if/when we are downgraded, the borrowing and accessing money will cost us significantly more. It is time for austerity measures.
“We must change the constitution with respect to the Consolidated fund. It has proven to be a black hole in whichfunds are co-mingled and spent,” he added.
“We should not co-mingle our operating account, client funds, etc. We must move to revamp the law and distinguish between accounts, whether that’s an account for the lottery, for confiscated funds and/or funds from auctioned items.
“Beyond that, we must bite the bullet and recognize that the public service is oversaturated and that general orders must be dispensed with,” said Mr. Gibson.
