The Labour Party has called for the quick implementation of the new rules on gambling outlets, which are to be issued after Parliament debates the new set of regulations when it reconvenes after the summer recess.

“There must be no further delays in the implementation of regulations for the gambling and Video Lottery Terminals sector,” shadow finance minister Charles Mangion said when contacted by The Malta Independent on Sunday.

“We have been calling for the government to regulate the sector for a long time since a level playing field must be established for the operators while the authorities watch over the social interest of gamblers,” he said.

The regulations would ascertain rights including age establishment. He also believes that gamblers, even in the case of Video Lottery Terminals (VLTs), must be over the age of 25, as is the norm with local casinos.

A regulated market will also generate good revenue in taxes for the government, he noted. Referring to this week’s court decision rejecting an application for a prohibitory injunction against the Lotteries and Gaming Authority and the Commissioner of Police regarding the confiscation of VLTs, Dr Mangion said that the court’s decision was legally valid.

He noted, however, that the crackdown on VLTs on 6 August was a result of the government’s mismanagement and bad administration.

No such action would have been necessary had the market been regularised before gambling arcades mushroomed all around the islands, he noted.

“Everyone must abide by the court’s decision,” said one of the operators in comments given to this newspaper following the decree. Nevertheless, he reiterated that the government and LGA, which had presented the VLT Regulations Roll-Out Plan in October 2007, had misled them. Besides proposing regulations following a two-year-long consultation process with stakeholders, the plan said that by the end of 2008, all machines had to be in line with regulations and compatible with the central monitoring system that LGA was supposed to create.

One operator invested some e5.5 million in new machinery and the sector had 400 employees up to the first week of August. However, LGA did not have the necessary set up and the government had not presented the proposals to Parliament by the end of 2008. All had forgotten the deadlines.

Furthermore, former LGA CEO Mario Galea had told operators that a general exemption applied because of the delay in legislature, however the law did not allow Mr Galea to give such an exemption, which was only given by word of mouth.

Gambling arcade operators now await the regulations, which Finance Minister Tonio Fenech promised to present to Parliament in September, following summer recess.

The operator who spoke to this newspaper said that regulations should make sense and be proportionate to the other gaming sectors. They must also be implemented in a timely manner for damage to be controlled, he added.

Meanwhile, the operators are ready to collaborate with the police and authorities in seeing that the law is observed.

Zejtun Archpriest, Eric Overend, had strongly opposed gambling shops in the neighbourhood over the past months. He had pointed out that there were four outlets in Zejtun Square alone and a good number of others around the village.

When contacted this week, he said that the court’s decision would help to regulate the sector. however members of the public should report irregular gambling which takes place in unauthorized places.

“Individuals must report them to the police in confidence or speak to associations like Agenzija Appogg and even priests, who would report the case,” he said. “We must employ all means to crack this issue and eliminate it as much as possible,” he added.

These places are known and everyone is in agreement that they must be stopped since they are resulting in daily tragedies with families losing their livelihood and at times even their homes, he said.

Fr Overend also urged the authorities to conduct educative campaigns especially once the regulations come into force.

Source – Malta Independent

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