NASSAU, Bahamas, May 10, 2020 — Island Luck CEO Sebas Bastian is firing back at the prime minister’s decision to shut gaming houses back down after stating that the amended emergency order last week never intended for them to re-open, according to an article in the Nassau Guardian.
In a national address on Sunday evening, Prime Minister Dr. Hubert Minnis said, “These provisions are designed to relate strictly to retail business establishments which can operate efficiently without the need for direct person-to-person physical contact or face-to-face interactions.
“They were never intended to apply to the operations of gaming houses, and this is now made abundantly clear by the provisions of part B of the order. Those provisions specifically state that permission to engage in-home delivery and curbside pickup services do not apply to a gaming house operators.”
In a statement that followed the prime minister’s national address, Bastian released the following statement: The prime minister’s most recent singling out of the gaming industry in his national address seems like yet another attempt to target a sector that employs more than 3,500 Bahamians.
Why the government is intent on keeping the sector closed and these Bahamians out of work is unclear. What has become apparent is that there is no logic or rationale to support the government’s ad hoc decision-making.
Like other sectors, the gaming industry closed its doors to help mitigate the growing public health crisis, complying with all of the emergency orders announced by the competent authority.
In the case of Island Luck, we committed to paying the salaries of all our employees.
We sought and formally gained the approval of the National Insurance Board of The Bahamas (NIB) to pay unemployment benefits directly to all eligible employees on NIB’s behalf.
Additionally, Island Luck paid the balance of any shortfall not covered by NIB unemployment benefits.
These efforts meant that all Island Luck employees received their full salaries for six weeks. See full Nassau Guardian story at https://thenassauguardian.com/2020/05/10/bastian-fires-back-after-pm-says-web-shops-have-no-permission-to-open/?fbclid=IwAR1GZtdp_XZ7–TnAgOC5FBnOoP5a1EVbD0XXx4NA3r8Rg0e51qxl2CBLmA
