WITH reference to the statement made by the Mr. Bharat Jagdeo on a casino legislation
I must commend the president on such a bold step. If Guyana is to move forward economically we need to take steps such as these to boost our tourism sector.
Casinos have been successfully operated and contributed to the many economies around the Caribbean.
Our religious society should move around the Caribbean and see how it’s run and fits into society.
Many of our Caribbean countries whose economies are on par with the US which thrive on tourism and with tourism comes casino gambling. Tourists go to countries to party, for night life and gambling. In Guyana we can’t attract tourists at this time with what we have. We don’t have white sandy beaches. We need to find innovative ways to attract tourists and I am sure establishment of casinos are a step in the right direction.
In Guyana people are opposed to every thing that ones suggest and that why we are so far back in development with the rest of the world. It’s like this, we come up with a good idea, but there is too much debate over it, by the time we put our ideas into action the moment has passed us.
When Buddy Shivraj was starting to build the hotel at Providence, there was so much opposition to it, but in development, there would be some who don’t like changes, however we need to overlook those if we want to progress as a nation.
Let look at some countries whose economies are based on tourism and casinos. In the Bahamas, the main industry is tourism but the society there is one of the most religious ones in the Caribbean. Their crime rate is very low also and the Bahamas dollar is one to one with the US dollar. We can say the same about Barbados and a number of other Caribbean countries.
Mr. President, I think that you are doing a good job, forget about the critics and continue the good work, and the next time I visit Guyana, I hope to see casinos.