Government is presented with gaming referendum petition signed by thousands
A petition with around 2,500 signatures in support of a public vote on gaming in Bermuda has been handed to Premier Michael Dunkley and Opposition leader Marc Bean.
But Mr Dunkley said Government would not do a U-turn on a decision to drop a referendum on the issue and would push ahead with a vote in Parliament instead.
“There are some who are uncomfortable with that position,” said Mr Dunkley.
“But governments are elected to lead — this Government decided it was not appropriate to have a referendum to allow gaming to move forward in Bermuda.
“There will be no turning back on the referendum — we have to move forward.”
And he said that “at the end of the day, we need to create jobs and bring investment to Bermuda”.
But petition organiser Jonathan Starling said: “He is trying to appear strong but, if anything, he looks weak.”
He added that the petition handed over had more than 1,800 signatures, with a further 300 online and completed sheets were still arriving.
Mr Starling predicted that, after vetting the remaining signatures, the total would hit 2,500.
Former MP Kim Swan, who with wife Cindy helped organise the petition, said: “I would encourage the Government to look at the signatures and they would find a very wide cross-section of Bermuda.
“Two thousand odd and more taking the time to sign is significant. Democracy is at work here and what has taken place in the name of expediency has injured this country.”
Mr Bean said: “We are concerned as an Opposition — the fact of the matter is there are many in this House on both sides of the House who support casino gambling.
“But the fact of the matter is that we cannot have political expediency being used to get to that goal.”
The referendum was ditched by former Premier Craig Cannonier, who said that the Opposition might sabotage any referendum.
Mr Bean said: “They have accused us of trying to undermine the referendum process, which was untrue.
“A referendum was promised by both sides of the political divide and we should respect the wishes of the people.”
