Guyana Gaming Authority: Oh Vendetta, where is thy victory

Dear Editor,
On Saturday, February 3, 2018, Stabroek News’ top story was: “Surinamese investor pulls gaming machines from delayed Sleep-In casino – gives two-month deadline for positive word on licence”.
The action by the Surinamese investor is a good lesson for us all: take no BS! Extracts from the poem by Martin Niemöller, commenting on the cowardice of German intellectuals following the Nazis’ rise to power, are insightful:
First, they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Socialist.
Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.
Then they came for the sugar workers — and there is an oppressive political, economic and racial nexus between the loathsome treatment of Sleep-In International Hotel and Casino (Sleep-In) application and the sugar workers.
The truth is: there was no earthly reason to deny, delay, or retard the casino application process; and, in addition, reportedly threaten and undermine the application process by requesting that Sleep-In revoke and replace the auditor. I am that auditor.
Sleep-In seemingly acquiesced to the Gaming Authority. It was the passivity that the rubber-stamping Gaming Authority Board sought to continue their vendetta against Sleep-In and the group that Sleep-In is perceived to favour and support. Also, my role as Auditor became persona non-grata for the Gaming Authority after I expressed my concerns about the inexplicable behaviour of the Guyana Gaming Authority.
Auditors more eminent then I have found no anomaly in the audited financial statements; and now we are in the dead zone, with the Gaming Authority stalling, stymying, or failing to make a decision after having been provided, in April 2017, with a new and all-inclusive casino licence application.
Subsequently, individual tax returns of the directors and supporting documentation for source of funds were provided to the Gaming Authority upon their request. The tide has now receded, and to paraphrase Warren Buffet, we can see the nakedness of the Gaming Authority Board members and their handlers. I apologize to the readers for illustrating these likely unfit and improper images without warning.
Maybe we should have asked for multiple years of individual tax returns of Darren Woods, CEO & Chairman of ExxonMobil, and the other ExxonMobil Directors. Can’t have that, these are foreigners from an extremely “reputable” company.
The dissimulation of the Gaming Authority is evidenced in a most visual manner by the repossession of some of the gaming machines from Sleep-In by one of the investors. What a tragedy for local business entrepreneurs.
Now what are the options for the self-described independent and objective Gaming Authority? After having received a comprehensive application that complied with the requirements of the Gambling Prevention Act and the other statutes the Gaming Authority claims relevancy under. Options: (1) Issue the licences; (2) adhere to the preceding option.
However, we are not dealing with an independent or objective Gaming Authority, and thus there is only one directive they will execute: Do not issue the licence to an entity that is perceived to be controlled by the PPP.
As Walter Rodney noted in his book, The Grounding with my Brothers: “Why not struggle for multi-racial and harmonious living, which nobody on a theoretical level would oppose. This is what we are struggling for.”

Sincerely,
Nigel Hinds