GEORGETOWN, Guyana, CMC -The Guyana government says it will soon move to implement tougher regulatory reform and taxation to curb the rise in gambling activities that have plunged families into financial distress and economic hardships.
Vice President, Bharrat Jagdeo, said that gambling, once limited to hotel-based casinos, has now spread uncontrollably through mobile apps, leading to social problems among single parents, especially mothers.
“What we have now is gambling on demand. It’s in every home, it’s an app,” he told his weekly news conference, adding that the problem is worsened by “a very liberal licensing and taxation policy.”
Jagdeo acknowledged that initially, gambling was introduced to support the hotel industry by providing an additional stream of revenue. Casino licenses were issued under strict conditions, requiring hotels to have at least 150 rooms and meet high service standards.
However, this model has since evolved into hundreds of small gambling outlets across the country, many of which are operating through apps that allow round-the-clock betting.
“The moment when you have four or five hundred outlets in every village across the country, and it’s all run on an app, it’s creating a major social problem,” Jagdeo told reporters, adding that the government could no longer ignore the issue, with many sharing stories of families being torn apart, and parents losing their income to online betting.
“It’s destroying people. If they want to gamble, they can go to the appropriate place, leave their home and travel, not sit at home all day using up their salary or children’s money,” he added.
He said that while citizens’ rights would not be restricted, gambling must become a high-cost, tightly regulated activity to discourage excess. Additionally, stronger tax measures will be part of the government’s approach to addressing this issue.
He also called for a mindset change, expressing concern that gambling undermines long-term goals such as homeownership and financial stability.
Religious organizations have also raised the issue with the administration, prompting the decision to act swiftly, with Jagdeo saying, “We are not going to allow that to continue.”
Meanwhile, the government is calling on the relevant authorities to launch a full investigation into gold smuggling practices.
Jagdeo said that the investigation should also target those corrupt officials who may be found complicit.
He said the investigation should be focused on the alleged gold smuggling by the Mohamed family, with the smuggling amounting to US$50 million worth of gold out of the country.
Jagdeo called on the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) and the Guyana Police Force (GPF) to “immediately start the investigation of all of those corrupt officials and the gold board who collaborated with the Mohameds in smuggling gold.”
The United States Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) had recently sanctioned Nazar Mohamed and his son, Azruddin, both of whom have since been indicted by a grand jury in the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida.
The 12-page indictment includes various charges that range from wire fraud, mail fraud, and money laundering that surround their export of gold to the United States.
The US authorities suggest that the primary goal of the pair was to enrich themselves while defrauding the government of Guyana by evading the stipulated taxes and royalties on goods exports.
The younger Mohamed has since been elected to the National Assembly and is expected to be sworn in as the Opposition Leader.
But Jagdeo said there would be no vendetta against the Mohameds, telling reporters that the scope of the investigation should not be limited only to them, but should also include anyone found complicit by the Guyana Gold Board.
“I expect that a full-fledged investigation would be launched into those people from the gold board, including …others who may have been complicit in assisting the Mohameds to evade the massive sum of taxes,” Jagdeo said.
and then 