Lawmakers on the island of Bermuda off the East Coast of the United States have voted to legalize casinos in hopes of restoring some luster to a fading tourism industry.
The Casino Gaming Act of 2014 authorizes a maximum of three casinos, with developers expected to be offered a variety of sites on the 20-square-mile island to be decided by the Casino Gaming Commission in consultation with the Ministry of Tourism.
The bill was introduced in the House of Assembly by Tourism Minister Shawn Crockwell after the governing One Bermuda Alliance party scrapped a proposed referendum on the issue over fears of opposition from the opposition Progressive Labour Party.
In tabling the bill, Mr Crockwell assured lawmakers it had been vetted in an “extensive” period of public consultation consisting of three public forums, one of which, held in the historic port town of St George’s, was broadcast on television.
A self-governing British Overseas Territory of 65,000 located about 640 miles southeast of the US state of North Carolina, Bermuda was first colonized by English settlers in the 17th century and is now the oldest Crown dependency in the Western Hemisphere.
Mr Crockwell noted that the island’s tourism industry has been in steady decline from competition from the Caribbean. “In the past 30 years, Bermuda has moved from a tourism industry leader to an industry outsider,” he said.
He added that while casinos would not be a panacea, they would serve as a catalyst for job creation and investment.
