Reforming gaming law
Officials from the Turks and Caicos Island recently sent a team to Jamaica to meet and learn from members of that country’s Betting, Gaming and Lotteries Commission. Their goal: to take away tips and best practices for their own gaming industry, which is in the midst of what reports have called a “reformation.”
According to Caribbean News Now, the TCI team included Desiree Lewis, secretary in charge of gaming in the Ministry of Tourism, Environment, Culture and Heritage, as well as heads of the Gaming Inspectorate.
“This is going to help us to strengthen and modernize the legislation,” Lewis told JIS News. “We felt that coming to Jamaica gives us greater exposure of what another Caribbean country is doing and how they are executing their legislation, regulation, enforcement and licensing processes.”
Deputy Chief Gaming Inspector Wayne Higgs added that TCI is also looking for ways to curb illegal gaming. “We know it’s going to be quite difficult, but it is something that we can get through. This meeting will help us on the way forward and to move in the right direction with our gaming laws and regulation.”
Gary Peart, chairman of Jamaica’s Betting, Gaming and Lotteries Commission, said the visit was “a testament to the good work that we have done.”
Jamaica is planning two billion-dollar resorts, both set to begin construction this summer. Robert Trotta’s $1.8 billion Celebration Jamaica will be located on a 75-acre tract in the Rose Hill section of Montego Bay. Phase I will include 1,000 hotel rooms, a 100,000-square-foot casino, and multiple retail, dining and entertainment options, including the Caribbean World Music Entertainment Complex. The property will eventually add another 1,000 hotel rooms.
The $1 billion Harmony Cove project, going up on a 2,300-acre site in Trelawny, will include 5,000 hotel rooms, restaurants and retail space, plus a 75,000-square-foot casino, a spa, marina amenities, golf courses and assorted entertainment facilities.
Harmony Cove is a partnership of government-backed Harmonisation Ltd. and global investment firm Tavistock Group. Both Harmony Cove and Celebration Jamaica were the only two bids accepted following passage of Jamaica’s casino gaming regulations in 2012. Each resort must offer minimum of 2,000 hotel rooms, to be developed in two phases. The casinos cannot open until after the first 1,000 rooms have been built.
