By RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

FORT Charlotte MP Dr Andre Rollins has dismissed lawyer Wayne Munroe’s recent statements about him as ignorant and arrogant while remaining critical of the government’s failure to involve Gaming Board members in the drafting process of the recently tabled Gaming Bill.

On Thursday Mr Munroe said “a peanut man” or a “cashier at BEC” could be chairman of the Gaming Board, adding that Dr Rollins and other board members are not gaming professionals, therefore they were not involved in the drafting of the gaming Bill.

“Dr Rollins is an orthodontist,” he said. “For the drafting of a bill this important, the government sought out gaming consultants who are professionals in the field … we elevate politicians too much in this country.”

Dr Rollins, however, hit back yesterday, saying the role of board members as professionals leading efforts to police the gaming industry should not be devalued.

“As a lawyer who is held in high regard for his legal acumen, I found (Mr Munroe’s) statements so full of incongruent reasoning that the only way for me to explain its illogic was to be reminded of what I was once told: a crafty lawyer will say anything to advance his client’s cause.

“Mr Munroe’s dismissal of the importance of the chairman and appointed board demonstrates a significant degree of ignorance, arrogance, hubris and a contempt for the law and the gaming industry itself.”

Dr Rollins argued that “by Mr Munroe’s distorted logic,” Tourism Minister Obie Wilchcombe with responsibility for gaming, is out of his depth because he lacks gaming experience despite his ministerial role.

He also said Mr Munroe’s statements, if true, reflect poorly on the government which appoints members of the board.

“Only a reckless and clueless government would appoint an incompetent person to chair a regulatory authority of this magnitude,” he said. “To be fair, perhaps Mr Munroe believes that this government is both reckless and clueless, but I shall give him the benefit of the doubt until he says so publicly.”

Dr Rollins said all parliamentarians are unqualified to vote on the Bill given Mr Munroe’s reasoning. “If as Chairman I lacked the degree of gaming expertise to warrant participation in the drafting of the legislation, it also stands to reason that none of the parliamentarians, none of whom qualify as gaming experts, have any business voting on whether the proposed ‘modernised’ gaming legislation is worthy of being passed into law,” he said.

“To use his ridiculous reasoning, only the casino owners and web shop operators, his clients of course, are qualified or necessary to determine what is best to be included in the proposed gaming bills to ensure conformity with global best practices. They alone should be left to draft the revised laws and regulations and to determine their own rate of taxation.

“This strikes me as both dangerous and unpatriotic, but then again Mr Munroe is being paid to secure a sweetheart deal for his clients and as far as he seems to be concerned, let the country be damned. In Mr Munroe’s twisted world of logic, politicians are elected to serve special interests instead of the public interest.”

Dr Rollins emphasised that he is an elected official tasked with representing the Bahamian people, adding Mr Munroe merely represents the interests of his clients.

“I must remind Mr Munroe, who ironically offered himself as a candidate in the last election under the banner of the Democratic National Alliance, that in private life he is paid handsomely to represent the interests of the web shop owners, while I as an elected Member of Parliament have an obligation to represent the interests of the Bahamian public,” he said.

“Unless or until Mr Munroe addresses the merits of the very valid concerns that I raised, whether I am a cashier at BEC or an orthodontist, I will excuse his commentary as that of a crafty lawyer motivated by what must be a very handsome retainer fee and remain focused on my job of protecting the interests of those who elected me.”