Life under OBA is one big gamble

Be wery quiet, I’m huntin’ wabbits — Elmer Fudd

“The jury’s out on whether legalizing gaming will make it easier to attract foreign investment to the island” — Finance Minister Bob Richards, RG, Aug. 26, 2013

Last week it was revealed that MP Crockwell paid a consultant to explore ways in which the OBA could abandon the referendum and minimize the political fallout for the party.  

Yes, taxpayers’ funds were used by the OBA to find ways to manipulate voters into accepting another broken campaign promise. 

Interestingly, the report was written eight months prior to the announcement to disband the referendum, confirming that the OBA never intended to have a referendum.

It is clear that most Bermudians no longer trust the OBA. Let them answer these questions: 

• How much of taxpayers’ money was used to pay for this report?

• Tourism Minister Shawn Crockwell has stated that he had 100% support from both OBA MPs and Senators for the legalization of gaming. So why will the OBA force their MPS to vote ‘yes’ via the three-line whip?

• Will the OBA publicly commit to directly linking Bermudian jobs to all future concessions and gaming permits?  

• OBA has stated that a Mind Map poll conducted in November showed 70%support for gaming. Can the OBA explain why non-registered voters and non-Bermudians were included in these polls? Will the details of ALL gaming polls conducted by the OBA be released to the public including the methodology used, the sample size & margin of error for each?

• OBA estimates that the Club Med project will result in 1,113 construction jobs & 913 hotel jobs.  Can the OBA explain how these numbers were produced without details about the size & scope of the construction project or the type of hotel to be built?  

• It has been reported in the Nassau Guardian that “gaming revenues in the country (Bahamas) have been stagnant at around $145m annually in recent years”. The Bahamas currently have 11 casinos. Based on this information, can OBA explain how they can project gaming revenues of $108.8m for Bermuda, given that we may only have three casinos? 

• At the recent gambling town hall meeting, Mr Crockwell admitted that he did not know how many persons were currently employed in the hotel sector or what percentage of these were Bermudians. How can the minister speak of the urgency of job creation when he does not have a grasp of the basic demographics of this industry?  

Bermudians really don’t expect answers to any of these questions. Senator Fahy failed to answer our questions on commercial immigration. So there is little chance MP Crockwell will answer these.  

The vast majority of OBA MPs have not publicly voiced any strong support for gaming in Bermuda. As you can see for yourself, Finance Minister Bob Richards publicly spoke out against gambling a few months ago. 

Following the time-line since 2010, it is only MP Crockwell and MP Pettingill that have been the major advocates for gaming from the OBA. 

 Verdict

It is clear that the Jetgate, Aka BDA crew, are attempting to force this whole gaming scandal across the OBA cabinet, supporters and the rest of Bermuda.

The evidence speaks for itself.

It is ‘Wascally Wabbit’ Season. 

E-mail: [email protected]