Lawmakers in Trinidad and Tobago are calling for the government to regulate the country’s burgeoning gaming industry, which is estimated to include around 75 casinos or members' clubs.
Minister of Trade and Industry Stephen Cadiz told the Trinidad Guardian that the unregulated industry is now growing at an enormous rate and employs approximately 10,000 people.
“The casino industry has been operating in a very unregulated manner since it started,” he said. “Gambling has been going on in Trinidad and Tobago for centuries but the current regulations under which the casinos have been operating are being abused under the Private Members’ Club Act. With the industry being unregulated there is also the problem of money laundering. The government will have to take a decision to regulate this industry and that is exactly what it is - it is an industry.”
Arguing that professionally run casinos offer greater benefits to their employees, Cadiz said it was clear that a properly regulated industry could be treated as an economic driver that could boost tourism.
This would require the creation of a gaming commission to oversee the industry, he said.
“It would not only be responsible for licensing and for the collection of taxes, but it would be the regulatory body for casino gambling to ensure that casinos operate within the regulations that government would set.”
