Lotteries and casinos are one of the major topics in discussion and there are some amongst us that actually believe they will be the answer to our prayers.

Either or both together will generate so much revenue our country will be back on the fast road to recovery.

It is no mistake that in today’s iNews Cayman we have two stories on the subject of gambling/casinos.

A few days ago the Caymanian Compass published a very interesting article on the subject of the Cayman Islands 50 year old Gambling Law that carries a maximum conviction of $10 to be found in possession of a lottery ticket. Or the judge might send you to prison with or without hard labour!

Nicky Watson of CNS raised a few eyebrows with her article/viewpoint in March under the title “The Brac: a casino or bust”.

She makes the valid point that the majority of jobs on Cayman Brac are “either within the public service or rely on public servants as customers” and it is “a very unhealthy situation for all concerned, including people on Grand Cayman who have to pay for it”.

She says “absolutely nothing has been accomplished towards the long-term economic health of the island.”

She asks what does the Brac have to offer? Apart from rock climbing, some fishing and nature tourism (that isn’t on anyone’s top agenda –EDITOR) pretty little else.

Her answer is a casino! She believes the Divi Group would develop the site they already have there very quickly if they knew a casino licence “was on the table”.

She mentions the other Divi hotels that have casinos – Aruba, Barbados, Bonaire, St Croix and St Maarten and says that the majority of them have casinos as the main attraction.

Now there I cannot agree with her. Casinos may be an attraction but the MAIN attraction? Hardly. There are only a few percent of the world’s population who are hardened “professional” gamblers and they would hardly be attracted to a Cayman Brac hotel with casino. The majority of gamblers do not spend all their time in a casino – they want other amenities and the Brac’s rock climbing and nature tourism as it is now is not going to make them make the trip for just that. Look what the other places that have a casino also have to offer.

The only people the Brac would attract consistently is people from Grand Cayman who have the same money in their pockets whether they spend it on Grand Cayman or the Brac.

Sorry. A casino in the Brac will not be the money tree she claims.

And I haven’t even touched on all the problems and other expenses that go along with the gambling disease casinos also attract, the policing, the regulatory authorities, etc.

Please read the two stories, “Area casinos creating dramatic ripple effects in local economy, problems” and “Casinos: The Effects of Casinos – Domestic Problems” I mentioned above. They show both sides and problems you wouldn’t even dream of.

Even the Cayman Islands Tourism Association (CITA) at their General Meeting on January 9^th tackled the subject as did the Cayman Business Outlook (CBO) Question and Answer Panel on January 24th.

All suggested the pros outweighed the cons.

I am NOT convinced on that. Neither should you be.

Also read iNews story on Feb 25^th 2013 “Year Ahead a Gamble for Casinos” at:

http://www.ieyenews.com/2013/02/year-ahead-a-gamble-for-casinos/