Dear Editor,
With reference to the confusion surrounding the sale of Buddy’s – the interest in this property comes from the possibility that it will get a casino licence.
The Turkish operator from St Maarten owns casinos on the island and a hotel property there with a casino licence.
Outside of that the interest in Guyana is difficult to explain. Doubtless there is potential in traditional tourism (including green tourism) but the casino licence doubles the sale price of any property in the Caribbean. Since Guyana will hardly attract the ‘high rollers’ on which some five-star casinos depend, we may fall into the unfortunate situation of having to count on the local population (whatever the laws say) or on money laundering outfits to survive as a casino destination.
St Maarten and Curacao are good examples of how little casinos contribute to tourism development in the region. But there is constant demand for gambling licences.
The fact that the government entered the game is hard to understand.
Yours faithfully,
Abu Bakr
