Labour MP Carmelo Abela yesterday said the government lacked the political will needed to complement the amendments proposed to the Lotteries and Other Games Act.

Speaking during the debate on the Bill in second reading yesterday, Mr Abela said that various government speakers had given the impression that gambling parlours had mushroomed without any authorisation, and he asked the authorities to assume their responsibilities for the present state of affairs.

Mr Abela said that through a television debate on Tuesday, it had emerged that the government did not manage to convince its own MPs on the Bill and the PN parliamentary group would meet on Saturday to discuss the Bill. How could it then expect to convince the opposition?

He agreed with Social Policy Minister John Dalli that it was not acceptable to have whole centre pages in newspapers containing gambling information. What action had the government taken with regard to this issue?

Mr Abela criticised the fact that the government was presenting Parliament with an enabling law. This was one of the most important and delicate issues, and, therefore, there should be a proper debate in Parliament.

It was right to increase the entrance age to gaming parlours from 16 to 18, but he suggested that one might consider a higher age, even though it was subject to debate.

Those who approved licences should do so responsibly. The law should be enforced and observed seriously.

Mr Abela said that while the government derived income from gambling, it was forking out huge sums of money to tackle the social problems which gambling created.

Speaking on the need of a family assessment in relation to gambling problems, Mr Abela quoted a study showing that half of the participants had committed thefts to have enough money to gamble.

The crimes committed by these gamblers were not violent crimes but included cheque falsification and credit card thefts, tax evasion and stealing from the place of work.

Studies showed that between 25 and 50 per cent of the gamblers’ partners had been abused. Apart from the impact gambling had on their children, these partners were the most vulnerable.

Gamblers’ children smoked, drank alcohol and abused drugs more than the children of non-gambling couples.

The study also revealed that 21 per cent of the participants had contemplated committing suicide.

Concluding, Mr Abela said that considering the problems society was faced with, legislators should be cautious. It was important to have a social conscience and to send the message that excessive gambling ruined families.

Earlier, Justine Caruana (PL) said that gambling addiction ruined family life in a short space of time, and therefore the debate needed to heed the social aspect. People also lost their employment because of gambling, the problems of which increased when people tried to run away from their personal difficulties. With insecurity ever increasing in Malta, the number of gamblers might increase.

While studies showed that there were more male than female gamblers, a lot of women in Malta spent time at tombola sessions. Many were parents and grandparents, who also took their children and grandchildren with them. A person who had a gambling problem was more likely to have a parent with gambling problems.

Dr Caruana said there was a strong relationship between gambling problems and usury. When regulating a sector one could limit the abuse, but there had to be a good and effective enforcement system. Complementing this, there had to be other factors, such as comprehensive policies which focused on this problem. Until such time as these policies were drawn up, there should be prevention programmes, even if these were costly to the taxpayer. Such factors were crucial as gambling victims should be rehabilitated. The Oasi Foundation was performing a lot of sterling work, but it lacked funds.

She noted that a greater number of children were spending more time surfing the internet, where they might be susceptible to online gambling.

She commended the House Social Affairs Committee, which had discussed the issue and recommended the protection of those who were the most vulnerable.

Concluding, Dr Caruana said that every vice was bad. She called on those who risked becoming gambling victims to take control of the situation, warning them that the problems would ruin them and their families.

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