PHILIPSBURG: --- Member of Parliament Darryl York, in his budget debate presentation, said, based on information he received is that the government of St. Maarten has waived the licensing fees for some lottery companies. He said at least one lottery boss received NAF 6 million in waived fees, which he said is a “return on investment for the top vote-getter.”
In elucidating on the topic, MP York said that a local study done 27 years ago reported the presence of disordered gambling amongst St. Maarten residents. At the time, in 1996, when compared to competitive islands (i.e., Bahamas, Puerto Rico, Curaçao, and Aruba), St. Maarten had the highest resident-generated Casino revenue of any island in the
Competitive set. “The St. Maarten casino industry’s reliance on resident-generated play was significant prior to Hurricane Luis but increased from $203 per person prior to the storm to $286 after the storm, a 32% percent increase.
This was substantial in the wake of a 40% decline in overall Casino revenue in the 12 months following the Hurricane.” Within a year (from 1994 to 1995), the resident share in the gambling industry went from 25% to 55% after Hurricane Luis.
"Our findings reveal that St. Maarten has 25 gambling licenses (i.e., 15 Casino, 7 Lottery, and 3 Online), of which 23 are operational."
In March of 2023, The Social Economic Council (SER) reported that lottery booths are of significant concern for the island since they are in highly populated low-income areas with little to no supervision from the government. Seventy-five percent (75%) of the country’s lottery booths are placed in the top 3 most populated areas (i.e., Lower Princess Quarter, Cul-de-Sac, and Cole Bay), with significantly more people from lower-income communities than other districts.
Compared to Curaçao (171 sq mi), with 2.11 lottery booth locations per square mile, St. Maarten (16 sq mi) has 6.9 registered booths per square mile. However, considering the 361 lottery facilities, that’s 22.6 lottery opportunities per square mile for St. Maarten. That is 10.7 times more lottery locations than Curaçao.
Regarding gambling licenses vs. estimated population ratios, St. Maarten surpasses St. Kitts, Bahamas, Curaçao, and Aruba.
Costs ranged from $36,663 – $ 54,329 over 4 years, per gambler.
The healthcare expenditure included outpatient, inpatient, ER visits, and prescription drugs. If considered only 20 gamblers in society with that exact scenario, the healthcare expenditure would range between $733,260 – $1,086,580 over a 4-year period, per gambler. Negligence in one industry will cost the country in another.
MP York said five new taxes and more taxation, but giving away over 10mil $$ to the rich (gambling license holders).
