Bernard

The United Church in Jamaica and the Cayman Islands has urged the Government to roll back its approval of casino gambling here.

Prime Minister Bruce Golding, in his Budget presentation last month, told the nation that licences had been granted for the introduction of the casino gambling in the country.

The Reverends Henley Bernard and Dr Collin Cowan, moderator and general secretary, respectively, for the United Church in Jamaica and the Cayman Islands, have expressed the denomination's disappointment and concern at the Government's move.

Future impact

"The regret which is felt is not primarily centred on the present generation. We mourn the decision because of its impact on future generations of young people who will not know a Jamaica without casino gambling," they said in a release.

The two clergymen said, "At the present time, our island is being wrecked by crime, violence and moral degradation. It therefore seems almost incredible that those charged with the administration of the country's affairs should even think of introducing an activity which has been shown to produce an increase in crime, violence, and moral degrada-tion. It is adding evil upon evil."

Destructive to family life

The statement also notes that it has been statistically proven that casino gambling has spawned crime, prosti-tution and moral depravity, and has been seriously destructive to family life wherever it has been introduced. In reference a report of the United States Department of Justice titled 'Gambling and Crime Arrests', July 2004, the church leaders said that study found significant connections between gaming and lawlessness.

"More than 30 per cent of pathological gamblers arrested in Las Vegas and Des Moines admitted committing robberies, while almost 60 per cent of low-rate gamblers admitted that they had committed robbery in order to gamble and to pay gambling debts.

"The 2001 Federal Bureau of Investigation crime reports also show that Atlantic City was above the national average for robberies," the clergymen said.

The statement also points to research carried out by the National Coalition Against Legalised Gambling that shows that Nevada was the most dangerous state in the United States, and also first in suicide, divorces, prostitution and gambling addiction.

The clerics added that the claim that casino gambling would not be the solution to Jamaica's economic problems.

"It is therefore amazing, to say the least, that the desire for additional revenue could justify the introduction into Jamaica of such a known evil.

"The United Church, therefore, appeals to the Government to reconsider and rescind this decision and to seek other sources of revenue which will not be so detrimental to the life of the nation."

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