House committee wants tough action on gambling outlets

Gaming shops being used for unlicensed gambling should be closed down until the situation is regularised, the House Social Affairs Committee has recommended.

The committee yesterday heard how gaming shops sprouting all over the island do not have a licence for gambling.

It recommended that such shops should be considered illegal and closed down at least until legislation and regulations are drawn up.

Michael Gonzi, the acting chief executive of the Lotteries and Gaming Authority, said that it was the Authority which had to issue the relevant licences, but it could not do so because no legal notice to regulate this area had been issued so far.

He said that the Authority’s board was addressing the problem and a presentation would be made to the government on Friday. He said the board’s intention was to regularise the situation as soon as possible. Not all the gaming shops that were currently open would necessarily remain so, he said.

Nick Xuereb, chairman of Lotteries and Gaming Authority, said that besides the short term plan being presented to the minister, the board was also discussing a long-term plan, to ban gaming in internet cafes, for example.

CONSEQUENCES OF GAMBLING

At the beginning of the sitting, Caritas representative Joe Chetcuti, who works with gamblers and their families, described compulsive gambling as a progressive disorder for which there was no cure. In Canada, he said, one of every four people who committed suicide had a gambling problem.

He pointed out that while one had to be over 25 to go to a casino, everyone could go to the small outlets opening all over Maltese towns and villages. Women with children, were regularly seen in these establishments.

A woman whose name cannot be published at the committee’s request, said that many housewives were gamblers, with husbands remaining in the dark about their wives’ problems. Many women visited gambling outlets after taking their children to school.

She recounted how a woman who depended on social welfare had to be literally pushed out of a gambling establishment by her 15-year-old daughter. In another case, when the husband died, the widow could not ‘find a cent’ to pay the funeral because her husband had gambled everything, including the family home.

There were young people in their third year at university who had to sell their car to pay off their debts.

Caritas representative John Zammit, who helps victims of usury, said that 70 percent of people with a usury problem found themselves in this situation because of gambling.

He said that many people who organised illegal gaming also loaned money illegally.

COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATIONS

At the end of the sitting, the committee made a number of recommendations to the Authority to consider in the drawing up of regulations.

It said the shops abusing of their licence by allowing gambling should be considered illegal and closed down, at least until the necessary legislation was drawn up.

Furthermore, entry to such establishments should not be allowed for those under 25 (as in the case of casinos).

The distinction between gaming and amusement machines should be removed.

The committee said that consideration should be given as to how many such gaming shops should be allowed in a community. These places should also be kept at a suitable distance from churches and schools.

The committee proposed an education campaign, as well as regular monitoring and audit of the activities in such outlets.

Opening times should also be limited, making the operations not so financially viable, but without pushing them underground.