By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

A leading businessman is backing government plans to maintain the status quo and prevent Bahamians from gambling in casinos, telling Tribune Business: “If it isn’t broke, don’t worry about it.”

Dionisio D’Aguilar, Superwash’s president and a former head of the Bahamas Chamber of Commerce, said: “That’s my personal opinion. If it isn’t broke, don’t worry about it.

“It’s worked well for the last 35 years. I’m not a big gambler, I’m not interested in going into casinos. Bahamians have ample opportunity to gamble and I just don’t see the need to make another avenue available to them.

“ If there is one leg you could stand on, it’s that the web shops generally are owned by Bahamians and the casinos are generally owned by foreigners.”

His comments came after Tourism Minister Obie Wilchcombe confirmed that the new Gaming Bill would prevent foreigners from gambling through websites operated by local web shops

“I don’t mind Bahamians going into casinos but you have to address the ability to deny access to people who are not carrying on in an appropriate manner, dressed in an appropriate manner and are going to bring down the overall feel of the place. You don’t want a bunch of 18 year-old kids going in screaming and shouting, or people who are clearly drunk,” said Mr D’Aguilar.

Wayne Munroe, who represents the owners of five web shops, recently told The Tribune his clients are “very concerned” that the Government is shutting the door to “billions” of potential foreign clients by limiting who can participate in online gaming through local web shops.

During an interview with The Tribune, Mr Munroe said his clients were less concerned about who will be able to “walk over the bridge to one of their web shops” and more worried about the potential online clients they can lose because of the Government’s restrictions.

According to the draft Gaming Bill, web shops would be permitted to legally engage in cash betting transactions on numbers games only, and with domestic players only. The term domestic player refers to a person who is a resident in the Bahamas, has a permanent residency certificate or work permit, or is married to someone with permanent residence status or a work permit. The latest draft also states that casinos would have the exclusive right to foreign players, both locally and online.