6 days ago
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As the Senate debated the Gaming and Lotteries Bill 2025, Senator Patrick Faber made it a point to express concerns over gambling addictions. He noted that there are cases where some retired public officers are regularly seen at the casinos utilizing their pensions or gratuity on gambling.
Hon. Patrick Faber, United Democratic Party: “The opposition supports clause 39 of the bill which prohibits minors under 18 from entering or working in gaming establishments. However, the bill fails to address the wider issue of problem gambling and its social consequences. What comes to my mind immediately and those who have been involved, the church especially, I’m sure Pastor Wade will remember, when the whole discussion about opening casinos was here in Belize when they opened Princess Casino, for instance, the concern was that our local citizens would not go to the casino and engage in gambling. In fact, there was a point where it was championed that it would only be for the tourists who came, the cruise tourists who needed desperately some kind of activity as if our Maya ruins and our jungles and our cayes and beautiful swimming and snorkeling and diving destinations aren’t enough attraction for them. They would come all the way here to beautiful Belize to sit in a casino and gamble. That was what was marketed and I need not tell Belizeans not here, not abroad, what has been the outcome of that kind of legislation. That kind of accommodation, if you will. Belizeans are the ones who use those casinos the most. In fact, you are lucky if you find tourists in them. I am saying let us put in place the proper guardrails so that we don’t have our society further deteriorate as a result of gambling gone too far. Anybody can tell you in this society how many of our retired public servants, how many of our retired teachers have lost their entire pension or gratuity to gambling. How many of them can’t pay their their mortgages and so on at the end of the month because they have gambling is an illness, it’s a sickness. And just like any other addiction, if you remove the environment, you stand a very good chance of not falling any deeper. Or if you control that environment so that those who are or may become addicted, those who are addicted, but even those who may become addicted, young people in particular.“
We will bring the views of other Senators in tomorrow’s newscast./
English (US) ·