Casino Gaming Law Being Amended To Attract Investments

In a bid to increase economic activity and spur economic recovery from the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the Government is seeking to attract investments in the country through amendments to the Casino Gaming legislation.

This is under the Casino Gaming (Amendment) Act, 2021, which was approved in the House of Representatives on Tuesday (June 29).

Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Dr. the Hon. Nigel Clarke, who piloted the Bill, said amendments are being made to the Casino Gaming Act, “with the goal of having, hopefully, billions of US dollars in investments being made in Jamaica over the next few years”, through integrated resort developments.

“We don’t simply want to recover what we have lost; we want to recover stronger; we want to recover better. As such, one of the recommendations in the COVID-19 Economic Recovery Task Force, which I chaired last year, was to promulgate amendments to the Casino Gaming legislation that will deliver results in the form of investments and jobs,” he said.

Dr. Clarke noted that amendments to the legislation will allow for “yet another product that can be the anchor for another type of tourism business” that will diversify Jamaica’s tourism product, diversify arrival patterns and seasonal trends and make Jamaica’s tourism product more resilient.

He said the amendments are being considered against the background of having a Casino Gaming Legislative framework in place for over a decade with no successful casino gaming investment in Jamaica during that period.

“We promulgated this [original  Bill] in 2010, but before 2010, we would have spoken about it for years and we have not one single successful investment to show to date, and hence, we are making a few revisions with the view of changing that and ensuring that we are going to have successful casino investments  – hopefully start with one, but hopefully have two, have three…,” he said.

The Casino Gaming Act was passed by the Houses of Parliament in March 2010 and was brought into force on the June 3, 2010. The promulgation of the Act was in recognition of the potential economic value to be gained by Jamaica, by enabling casino operations on the island, specifically in specially designated facilities.

The objectives of that original Act are to establish a regulatory regime for the conduct of casino gaming in Jamaica, to ensure that casino gaming is regulated efficiently and effectively, and to encourage the establishment of integrated resort developments by licensing these developments to offer casino gaming as part of a mix of various tourism amenities and facilities available to the guests of hotels in such developments.

“The concept of the integrated resort development is an important one in the Act, as these developments are seen as a means of enhancing and further expanding the tourism product and, by extension, will be a means of contributing significantly to a country’s economy, because an integrated resort has a number of different facilities, not just rooms and a pool,” Dr. Clarke explained.

He noted that integrated resort developments are intended to be large-scale facilities and are expected to strengthen Jamaica’s competitiveness in the tourism industry, lead to job creation and lead to increased tax revenues as well as more demand for locally produced goods. They also offer opportunities for the developer in the niche luxury hotel room market.

Dr. Clarke explained that under the Act, the Minister responsible for Finance may make an Order declaring an integrated resort development to be an approved integrated resort development.

“This scheme allows the developer to make an application to the Casino Gaming Commission for a licence to be issued under the Act to operate a casino within the resort development,” he said.

Minister Clarke noted that the amendments to the parent law that have been made in consultation with industry stakeholders are meant to reduce the hotel room requirements for an approved integrated resort development and to allow for rooms already under construction prior to the making of the application to be included in the projected number of rooms to be available.

“This change, to include rooms already under construction, just seems quite practical and is to ensure that investors who may have already started construction of a property and who may later decide to include elements of an integrated resort would not be automatically barred from qualifying to apply for the property to be designated as an approved integrated resort development,” he said.

The Minister noted, however, that rooms already in existence would continue to be excluded.

Further amendments being made to the regime include provisions that stipulate that a certain number of the total rooms to be available are to be designated and constructed as luxury hotel rooms.

“We have [also] established a timeline within which all the facilities that comprise an integrated resort development are to be constructed, and to provide a sanction for the failure to comply with the prescribed timeline,” Dr. Clarke said.

The Bill will also set a minimum capital investment to be made by the developer for the establishment and operation of an approved integrated resort development.