Mr Kingsley Thomas, the ideas man and initiator of projects in the Patterson administration, has elsewhere in this publication made clear that he did not criticise the government for its failure, so far, to declare on casino gambling.

His accusation of hypocrisy was for those persons who are against casinos yet have no complaints about other forms of gambling, on which Jamaica spends nearly $18 billion a year.

We acknowledge the nuanced and textured nature of Mr Thomas' statement and accept that he did not specifically declare the government hypocritical.

But we hope that this is not one of those cases where the more fundamental issue is caught in obfuscation and is left behind by minute and mind-numbing parsing.

For most people, we expect, will agree with Mr Thomas' fundamental point. After 15 years in office, it is high time the government made up its mind on casino gambling. It has had more than enough time to study the issue and to take advice from the Betting Gaming and Lotteries Commission and whatever other agency it has asked for reports.

Indeed, as we have argued before, the only sensible decision for the government to arrive at is the greenlight for casinos.

Unlike Mr Thomas, we believe that the administration has been as hypocritical as anyone else. Or worse, it has not shown leadership on the issue. And neither has it, up to now, acted in the national interest on the matter.

As we understand it, there are two fundamental planks of the anti-casino lobby. One is the morality of gambling, including the social cost of poor people putting their small earnings in games of chance. The other is the fear of organised crime insinuating its way into casino operations.

These may not be issues to be dismissed out of hand, but in the context of Jamaica we believe that they are largely misplaced.

The greatest moral problem facing Jamaica, we feel, is the poverty, hunger, poor shelter and ignorance which afflict far too great a proportion of this country's citizens. We, as a society, should be shamed at the groveling existence led by so many.

We are in this circumstance because of our failure to generate substantial and sustained economic growth. Growth has been lacking because of an insufficiency of investment.

Mr Thomas has said that the lack of a licence for a casino will not hinder his proposed Harmony Cove tourism and resort development. But neither can it be hurt by a US$1 billion investment by the gambling groups Ceasar's and Harrah's.

Surely, nowhere in Jamaica can be hurt by investors putting up that kind of money for any project on the island.

Hardly, we expect, would Montego Bay have been hurt if the consortium in that city was allowed to move ahead with the casino project it placed on the table so long ago. Kingston would hardly feel itself victimised if Ray Chang's casino project for the Pegasus and Hilton hotels were to materialise.

These projects would bring capital to Jamaica and create jobs so that ordinary Jamaicans could finance their way out of squalor. If these ventures are profitable and their owners pay taxes, the government will have money to finance development of the social and physical infrastructure.

Fear of organised crime could hardly be the real issue. Not when more than 1,000 persons have already been murdered in Jamaica this year and thugs can extort with impunity and few are arrested.

Like Mr Thomas suggested, we all need to cut the hypocrisy. The real debate ought to be about development.

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