In a move meant to sweeten the pot and presumably sway more voters to support the Vote Yes campaign in the upcoming gaming referendum, web shop owners announced Wednesday that shares will be offered to the public should the industry be legalised.

The move, says Vote Yes, will allow a wide cross-section of Bahamians an opportunity to rise from the ranks of just mere participants to actual owners within the industry.

“This is historically unprecedented in that for the first time, after many years of legalised gambling in The Bahamas, which has prohibited Bahamians from participating, Bahamians can be come owners in the industry,” said Vote Yes Bahamas spokesperson Theresa Moxey- Ingraham.

The announcement came without any substantial information regarding the percentage of shares that will be offered or exactly how the process will work, but Vote Yes Committee member Philip Galanis said this is simply the industry will first need to be regulated before any further decisions are made.

“We do not yet know what the regulations contain… we do not yet know what framework is going to be established for the regulation of this industry,” he said. “We like all companies that are engaged in economic activity in this country, much will depend on what unfolds after the fact.

“Clearly we have a general idea because there have been share offerings in the past. There are certain requirements that will be imposed on the companies by the Securities Commission. They will have to past the test of the institution that is going to regulate the gaming industry and so there are a lot of questions to be answered.

“But what we do know is that in the context of those companies that have previously offered their shares, there are things that need to be satisfied and they [the web shop owners] will satisfy those requirements.”

While the Vote Yes Committee touts the potential benefits that Bahamians stand to gain from buying shares in the web shop industry, they admit that this move is also an attempt to improve the image of web shop owners who are still viewed by many as the only beneficiaries from the web shop industry being regulated.

“This is simply not true,” Mrs. Moxey-Ingraham said. “In order to dispel this misperception, we are committed to ensuring that a wide cross-section of the Bahamian public will also benefit from the returns of this industry.

“While we cannot detail all the particulars that will be involved in such an historic development, we are certain that the existing regulatory framework will drive the manner in which Bahamians will be able to take advantage of this emerging industry.”

Vote Yes Bahamas says it has planned several rallies and events over the next two weeks aimed at drumming up support for the campaign and to ensure that it wins at the January 28 referendum.