Today was the day that the gaming industry expected a revised bill to be presented to Parliament for the introduction of casinos in Jamaica. The government announced the proposed legislation but it now appears that the bill is not on the agenda for this Parliamentary session. The Cabinet, according to Information Minister Daryl Vaz, approved the withdrawal of the bill.

In June Jamaica’s Prime Minister Bruce Golding told a Town Hall Meeting at the Montego Bay Civic Centre that Parliament would debate the draft legislation for casino gambling in July. At that time he said, "We spent a long time preparing the draft, because we wanted to ensure that every sentence was right: every 't' was crossed and every 'i' dotted." It seems that the crossing and dotting still were not enough to get a casino law in front of the country’s legislators.

In 2008 the Prime Minister announced that a casino licence had been awarded for a Celebration Jamaica resort project for Montego Bay along with another for Harmonisation Limited. As long ago as 2004 the Jamaican government ordered the Betting, Gaming and Lotteries Commission to compile a report on possible formats for casino gaming.

Gambling is far from being a new industry for Jamaica, where slot machine and bookmaking operations are common. However, gambling is a sensitive subject on the island and during election years politicians are loathe to touch the issue. The present Prime Minister does support bringing casinos to Jamaica but only in large hotels to boost tourism to the country. Once again casino legislation has been postponed although a new bill is said to be imminent. (E-10.27.09)

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