NASSAU, Bahamas — Minister of Tourism and Aviation Dionisio D’Aguilar is adamant that he doesn’t think the government should have a hand in running a national lottery given what he termed its bad track record of running businesses, the Nassau Guardian reported July 31.
His comments come as the Minnis administration continues to consider the establishment of a national lottery.
D’Aguilar, who has responsibility for gaming, says the government is not ruling out the idea of letting the established people in the gaming business run a national lottery.
“What I said in my presentation is that it left open the opportunity for a lottery,” he said outside Cabinet. “Now, I never said who would run that lottery…and I said specifically in my speech that I did not personally believe that the government of The Bahamas should run a lottery because of our record in running things in general.”
He said that it might be the most sensible option to have the lottery run by those already in the industry.
“…If we were to decide to go with a lottery, I’m sure a very significant case could be made for, ‘Hey we have Bahamians in the gaming industry. Would they not be best positioned to run a lottery on our behalf?’” he said. “They have the distribution. They have the knowledge. I’m sure a very profound case could be made for that.” https://thenassauguardian.com/2019/07/31/daguilar-gaming-house-operators-could-run-national-lottery/
