I urge Govt to award casino licence to Sleepin Hotel’s owner

Dear Editor,
Hurricane Irma has caused catastrophic damage to a number of islands in the Caribbean: St Maarten, Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, The Bahamas, Puerto Rico, etc. These islands earn a large proportion of their Gross Domestic Product from the tourism sector. A significant contributor of the tourism sector among these countries is the casino industry.
Many casinos situated in countries affected by Irma, have been left to mere rubble such as The Casino Royale in St Maarten. The devastating damage inflicted upon these casinos can be seen as an unfavourable blow to the economy; since there may be a decline in the tourism sector as a result of the closure of these casinos. The ruined casinos may remain closed for an extensive period because the expenditure needed to rebuild or even repair them is astronomical. This presents Guyana with the opportunity to enhance its tourism sector, through the casino industry, because tourists currently require a new avenue for gambling, as a result of Irma’s wrath upon casinos such as The Casino Royale.
Therefore, the Government of Guyana, should encourage and not discourage the establishment of casinos because of the immediate advantage it presents for the economy, more particularly, the tourism sector. Moreover, the Sleepin Hotel and Carnival Casino can aid Guyana in this endeavour, once it is granted the casino licence.
The Sleepin Hotel and Carnival Casino has in its possession all of the requirements for the casino licence since 2016. The denial of Sleepin’s application in 2016 for the casino’s licence is incomprehensible and the prolonged delay for the approval of its pending reapplication is a mystery. I find this a mystery because during my last visit to Guyana, during this summer, I noticed that some local bars such as the Seeta’s bar and the Blue Martini have operating gambling machines on their premise, which are available for the public to use. I request the Gaming Authority to answer the following questions: Is it lawful for these bars to have these gambling machines, which are similar to those found in casinos? If it is lawful, why permit local bars, which never had to invest in a 150-room hotel facility, to operate gambling machines, similar to that found in casinos and deny a US million hotel the casino’s licence?
During my visit to Guyana, I stayed at the accommodating Sleepin Hotel and Carnival Casino. The owner, Clifton Bacchus, showed me his impressive casino facilities which would be staffed with 300 already trained Guyanese. The casino facilities seem to be world-class and are ready to function, as soon as it is granted its licence.
I urge the Government to award Bacchus his licence so he can start his operations immediately and in the same vein, the economy of the country will be boosted significantly, keeping in mind, the advantage it has over the other countries affected by hurricane Irma.

Sincerely,
Theophilus Morgan