Minister of Tourism Development and Transport Shawn Crockwell has provided an update on the Bermuda Casino Gaming Commission in the House of Assembly.
He said that the Singapore model for casino gaming adopted by the Bermuda government in the 2014 Act will be amended to better suit the island.
Crockwell said the Casino Gaming Commission is submitting suggestions to make the legislation more appropriate to the “social, cultural and economic realities of Bermuda.” The amendments will be tabled “as expeditiously as possible,” he said.
“Over the course of the past seven months the Commission members have been steadily acclimatising themselves with the full scope of their duties and responsibilities as Commission members,” added Crockwell, "in addition to undertaking and completing the various tasks associated with the recruitment of key Commission personnel and the actual set-up of the Commission offices.”
Measures are meant to take place ahead of Bermuda’s first casino opening. Based on Singapore’s casino regulatory framework, a bill to legalise gaming venues in hotels was approved in Bermuda two years ago, enabling up to three casinos.
Following the legalisation, the site selection application process was drafted in December last year and sent to the House of Assembly. Measures included in the Casino Gaming Amendment Bill 2015 detail how landowners can apply for a casino to be developed on a designated location.
