CONSTITUENCY Ten Councillor, Malcolm Ferreira, has noted that the offence of gaming in public is now being carried out by children as young as eight years old on the street corners. The issue was raised at last week’s statutory meeting at City Hall, where Councillor Lyndon Hilliman brought to the attention of the Council that the offence was being done in full view of the public at the Sophia bus park, at the back of the Stabroek Market, and in front of Demico Square.
“This offence is an age-old one. I remember seeing it as a little boy, and I am still seeing it (now). I believe gaming in public has spread from the Demico area, and it’s now taken up in constituencies by young people,” observed Councillor Ferreira in response.
“When I am speaking about young people, I am speaking about eight, nine, 10, 11, 12, 13-year-olds. In Constituency 10, they would come out on the corners, and, luckily, a little threat of bringing the police to intervene might not move them away from gambling, but from the frontline on the James Street corner.”
As a municipality, Ferreira said the Council ought to come together to counter the issue within the communities. Apart from Albouystown, Ferreira also cited communities like Agricola and Sophia that are plagued with the offence.
“There must be some way that we can arrest the situation; I believe we should really do something,” Ferreira said.
Contributing to the discussion, Councillor Monica Thomas noted that while the focus is on addressing gambling from the lower level of society, there is an even bigger problem involved. “There are a lot of big businessmen that are involved in gambling. Gambling begins at the very top; we have to address this problem holistically,” she said.
Mayor Patricia Chase-Green offered that the problem of gaming in public is present in every community.