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JAMAICAN CHURCH LEADERS FIGHT CASINO PLAN: Legislators urged to reject Prime Minister's plan for tax revenue.

(May 9, 2008)

The Associated Press reports that Jamaican church leaders on Monday urged legislators to reject a plan by Prime Minister Bruce Golding to boost tax revenue by licensing the poor Caribbean island's first gambling casinos.

"Allowing casinos on the island would spread vice, threaten social values and ruin families," said Rev. Henley Bernard of the United Church in Jamaica and the Cayman Islands.

"It seems incredible that those in charge with the administration of the country's affairs should even think of introducing an activity which has shown to produce an increase in crime, violence and moral degradation,"

Bernard said.

Golding last month said he had green-lighted a proposal by a group of international investors to build Jamaica's first casino in the tourist Mecca of Montego Bay - earmarking revenues for health, education and security spending.

Parliament will consider this bill in coming weeks. Lawmakers so far said little, but church leaders have blocked previous casino pitches and vowed to fight Golding's proposal.

Jamaica, a nation of nearly three million, now has a few hundred slot machines at various hotels. Golding's proposal would allow casinos to apply for licenses, if their plans include a minimum $1.5 billion investment and plans for an adjoining hotel with no fewer than 1,000 rooms.

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