By LAMECH JOHNSON

Tribune Staff Reporter

ljohnson@tribunemedia.net

VOTE No campaign spokesperson Pastor Lyall Bethel said that yesterday’s victory in the gambling referendum confirmed his faith in the church and confirmed that the majority of Bahamians “in their heart of hearts” know gambling is wrong.

Speaking to The Tribune when it became clear that a majority of voters, even before the end of the counting, would not support the establishment of a national lottery and regulation and taxation of webs, the Grace Community Church leader spoke about how the soon-to-be victory felt and what it meant.

“I am overjoyed at the results and my faith in the Bahamian people has been confirmed today,” he said shortly after 8 o’clock last night.

I was obviously concerned about what the outcome would be with the other side throwing $7 million. And while I believed that the people are for God, when you’re trying to bribe people, you wonder at what price would the people cave in. Cars, lands and houses were thrown about and we’ve been praying and believing that Christ and our faith in him would come through for us.”

“I believe everyone knows, in their heart of hearts, that gambling is wrong and the voting results proved that tonight. While some Bahamians do gamble, the majority of them do not.”

The pastor admitted that he did not expect people to stop gambling, or for the “web shops to shut down right away.”

“It’s obviously going to be some sort of phase out period and we believe that the government, following the will of the people, will confiscate some, if not all of the money there and put it to use for the betterment of the people,” he said.

In that moment, Pastor Bethel “personally” dedicated the referendum victory to Carlton Francis who had in the past, stood up to the government against gambling and his career suffered for it.

On the subject of careers, the Save Our Bahamas campaign leader understood the fears of workers employed at the various web shops, and sought to squash notions raised in social media that the church would not assist the reported 3,000 webshop workers.

“The church always helps people,” he emphasized.

“That’s a 24/7 hospital. However, it is not our job to find jobs for people. It’s the government’s responsibility to do this.”

 “These people unfortunately were working for an entity or businesses that conduct illegal activities. All we, the majority of Bahamians, have been calling for is for law and order to prevail in this country.”

“We will still try to give the government advice in that regard. Ultimately though, we don’t think the government ought to help find jobs that encourages people in a vice. The vice here is gambling and it’s impacting a lot of the lower socio-economic classes. We have learned that the single parent homes, usually single mothers, are the ones that are most affected by gambling.”

Pastor Bethel concluded with noting his level of respect for Prime Minister Perry Christie as the nation’s chief and as a friend.

However, he also wished to respond to the PM’s words to the media that the government would decide how to proceed if the outcome of the referendum was determined by a minority vote.

“We want to caution him that this opinion poll he threw out, while non-binding, is still the will of the people and the people have spoken and I trust that he sees the church ought to be listened to.”

The Tribune contacted Vote Yes campaign spokesperson Theresa Moxey-Ingraham for comment following the outcome of the referendum that has had the lowest voter turn out in the history of the Bahamas.

However, she said the campaign was not ready to give a statement and that one would likely come today (January 29) or tomorrow.