By RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

BETWEEN 20 to 30 per cent of operators in the web shop industry are operating illegally, robbing the government of potential revenue while threatening to mar the efforts that have been made to legitimatise the industry, web shop bosses say.

Their concerns were discussed with key figures within the industry during a private meeting yesterday that marked the culmination of the lengthy process to regularise the industry.

Top figures from the seven legal web shops ate lunch at Graycliff with Tourism Minister Obie Wilchcombe and the permanent secretaries in the Ministry of Tourism and the Gaming Board.

There, they received their official license certificates to operate.

They were gracious, FML Group of Companies CEO Craig Flowers said, applauding Mr Wilchcombe and the members of the Gaming Board for successfully completing the “humongous” challenge of regularizing the industry.

“Most of the objectives originally set out have been achieved and that’s because of their professionalism and hard work,” Mr Flowers said.

But behind the celebration of the milestone is a growing concern among web shop bosses that authorities aren’t doing enough to clamp down on illegal operators, Mr Flowers and Raymond Culmer, CEO of Chances Games, told The Tribune yesterday.

A major source of controversy in the past, the idea of illegal web shop operations has received little attention in recent times as focus has shifted toward web shop proliferation within the regulated sector while Bahamians wait for zoning regulations to be released.

Top government and law enforcement officials have said in the past that many illegal web shop operations have been closed during the regularisation process.

Most of the allegedly illegal operations that are still open exist in Grand Bahama, where three such operators have a major presence, Mr Culmer said.

“They are operating with impunity. From all accounts and from my own investigations, they are very prolific, representing 20 to 30 per cent of the market. We invested a lot in this industry and it was open to all to vie for license and for some people to continue to operate in that same illegal vein is unfair to us. We are licensed and we are to be protected just like you would protect fisheries from poachers.”

Mr Flowers and Mr Culmer said Gaming Board officials have admitted they are aware of the problem, with Gaming Board Permanent Secretary Dennis Martin saying during the meeting that he spoke to Police Commissioner Ellison Greenslade about the issue just yesterday morning.

“We feel the (Gaming) Board should spur police on to deal with these issues,” Mr Culmer said.

The Gaming Board, however, has said that it has regulatory functions, not enforcement.

“We didn’t get the impression that the police will be mobilised,” Mr Flowers said.

Particular concern was expressed about the continued operation of Bet Vegas, a web shop that was denied a license by the Gaming Board but remains operational while it faces proceedings in court.

“They are expanding,” Mr Flowers said, claiming that two Bet Vegas gaming houses have emerged “across the road” from two FML web shops.

“They’re not paying their taxes. How can we legitimately accept this?”

But web shop bosses said Bet Vegas isn’t alone when it comes to unregulated activity.

“There are other communities and cultures doing their things,” Mr Flowers said. “The hand held mobile devices, which we were banned from using, are still prominent.”

“A lot of praise is due to the Gaming Board for arriving at this point, but I’m concerned that it can all be jeopardised and that all the money spent, the hard work of operators might not amount to a hill of beans if the problem with the unregulated operators isn’t resolved in an expeditious manner.”