THE Jamaica Association of Evangelicals – one of the island’s major church groups – yesterday cautioned the government on any plan it might have to introduce casino gaming here.

The group, citing what it called “developments in recent weeks”, urged the Bruce Golding-led administration, in office for less than two months, to immediately establish a National Gambling Impact Study Commission before taking a decision to introduce casino gambling.

The casino gambling debate, which has always been shot down by the church community in the past, was recently resurrected following comments by new tourism minister, Edmund Bartlett, which pointed to the potential benefits of casino gambling to the tourism industry. Bartlett, while in Opposition, had contended that casino gambling has the potential to bring “colossal benefits to the tourism industry”.

President of the Jamaica Association of Evangelicals, Rev Peter Garth, however, urged the new administration to rethink any plan to introduce casino gambling.

“It is truly a sad moment for many Jamaicans to be hearing from the private sector that casino gambling should be formally introduced. It lacks a paucity of ideas on their part and a lack of sensitivity to the principles and values of the vast majority of Christians in Jamaica,” Garth said in a press statement.

Bartlett was said to be off the island yesterday and could not be reached. But director of communication in the Ministry of Tourism, Gerry McDaniel, said the church has jumped the gun on the casino issue.

“Enough work has not been done to announce a definitive policy position but we know for sure that it has not been ruled out,” McDaniel told the Observer.

According to McDaniel, while it is known that the minister was not against the idea, “he is not saying ‘we are not going to do it’, which is the response the church would prefer”.

He said while the government was focused on seeing the tourism sector perform it did not intend to “discount the moral issues” in spurring growth.

“I don’t see a definitive position emerging before April of next year because there are a number of other things which are further ahead,” McDaniel said.

According to Garth, while opposition to gambling was not expressly stated in the Bible it was underscored by scriptural principles.

“Many Christians don’t take gambling seriously because they cannot find a direct commandment against gambling but there are precepts, principles and models that call every disciple of Christ to a life incompatible with gambling,” Garth said.

He said, too, that there were plenty of economic and social reasons to oppose casino gambling, which he said “creates problems for gamblers”, in addition to the social costs which accompany those addictions.

“The evening news may tell the story of one winner but it has no time to recount the thousands of suicides, broken homes, embezzled funds, thefts, fraud and addictions that are a part of the story of every lottery and casino,” Garth said.

In the meantime, McDaniel said the technical and support staff of the tourism ministry had accelerated data and intelligence gathering on the performance of casinos.

“You are not going to hear any big arguments from the government about casino gambling or any similar huge attractions until we get to that five million in tourist arrivals which is what they have determined is the critical mass of people needed to pull in huge attractions; we are now at three million,” McDaniel said adding that the critical mass might not be achieved before 2010.

Earlier this month the Opposition People’s National Party member of parliament, Ronnie Thwaites, tabled questions in the House on the thorny issue to Bartlett.

Thwaites, in querying whether the administration had plans to introduce casino gambling, asked that Bartlett set out the present policy stipulations regarding games of chance in Jamaica.

Thwaites also questioned whether the tourism minister had given assurances to any investor or prospective investor regarding a possible change in the government’s policy in respect to gambling.