This casino should not be allowed to operate in this area

Mar 24, 2017 Letters

Dear Editor,
A grave injustice is unfolding in front of us. If not rectified it would set a dangerous precedence in Guyana. We speak of a presently unlicensed casino that has been flouting the Licencing Laws as a licensed casino in the media for the last four months. At least, that’s what the advertisement has been indicating.
We call on the president to intervene so that the correct process is followed. We call on the Gaming Board to immediately have an open Public Hearing on this edifice. The following are just a few concerns of individuals residing in Georgetown generally and in the vicinity of the unlicensed casino particularly.
We feel that a casino should not be built in a residential area that has a Muslim mosque, a Seventh Day Adventist Church, a Catholic Church and a Pentecostal Church all within 2 blocks of this gambling den, and its associated spinoffs. We feel that a Casino should not be built in the middle of an area that has a Presidential Park, a Children’s Park, a Cultural Park and a market. We feel that a casino should not be built in the middle of a very densely populated area when there is no parking?
We object strongly to a casino being built and gambling equipment installed without a license and permission from the Gaming Board to bring in gambling equipment. How can the Government of Guyana , after finding out from a forensic audit that US$100M was spent on a planned US$59M Marriott Hotel , provide a casino license to a business when this would significantly impact on the Government’s ability to sell the Marriott, or to make it a profitable venture within the next 10 years. And if it is difficult for 3 casinos to make a profit in this small Guyanese market, why would someone spend US$25M on such a high risk venture, even when there is no legal MOU that would guarantee a license would be granted?
The Gaming Board should be investigated and/or removed, if a license is granted to this edifice without a Public Hearing. Why would the Gaming Board, set such an unlawful precedence to have someone build a casino without permission from the Gaming Board? Surely, this is bullyism and border on arrogance and disrespect of the Guyanese people. The religious institutions, the neighborhood groups, businesses, the cultural group across from the edifice which nearly lost its ground for a casino parking lot, the general public including the Anti-Parking Meter Group should have an opportunity to hear why this building which applied to GO-Invest and was given concessions for a hotel, why now, three years later, this hotel is now something else, and more so, built in an area totally unsuitable for a casino. International precedent has shown that such facilities become the hub for prostitution, drug distribution and worst of all, the major source for the spreading of sexually transmitted diseases.
Concerned Citizens

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