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BGLC blames legal process for KSAC lottery licence delay
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
THE Betting Gaming and Lotteries Commission (BGLC) is blaming legal processes for the delay in approving an application made by the Kingston and St Andrew Corporation (KSAC) to operate a city lottery almost a year ago.
According to executive director of the BGLC, Michael Peart, the regulatory body is trying to have the attorney general straighten out several legal matters regarding the application.
"There are a number of issues that still have to be ironed out in the matter regarding the law," Peart told the Observer last Wednesday.
The city lottery is the brainchild of Deputy Mayor Lee Clarke.
At the KSAC's monthly meeting last Tuesday, Clarke expressed disappointment over the length of time it was taking the BGLC to approve the application - which was made on November 11 last year - and said the KSAC would ask "the authorities to look into" the matter.
"We are concerned about the bureaucracy and the delay," said Clarke Tuesday.
On Friday, the deputy mayor called for the intervention of Prime Minister Bruce Golding.
The KSAC is hoping to use revenue from the city lottery to supplement its budget to fix over 2,000 roads and drains in Kingston and St Andrew as well as other parts of the island.
According to Clarke, the approval of the licence is especially urgent given that councils are now "required to fund 80 per cent of their budgets" and considering the "concurrent loss of revenues from building applications and road funding".
"The KSAC wants to introduce the (lottery) at the national level to meet some of the funding for its budget as well as the budgets of other councils," Clarke said, adding that the lottery is projected to provide direct employment for some 2,000 persons.
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