Cyprus-Forum.com

[Sotos]

THE GOVERNMENT has not yet taken any decision to legalise and set up casinos in Cyprus. This, at the moment, is the official policy. What has been decided is that the Cyprus Tourist Organisation (CTO) will be authorised to carry on with their studies on the financial, social and tourist aspects.

President of the CTO, Fotis Fotiou yesterday told the Cyprus Mail that, “we are expecting the results of these studies by the end of the year, which will then be discussed by all political parties.

“Interim findings have proved the need for high quality casinos which will be more than mere betting shops. Research has shown that 330,000-400,000 Greek Cypriots visit casinos in the north annually, leaving behind £44 million pounds.

“The creation of casinos would help to give quality service to tourists visiting the island and to Greek Cypriots interested in gambling, instead of the sleazy, low-class game clubs in the north. The decision on whether to build a casino will be taken by the government after the CTO finalises its full report.”

Responding to claims that casinos cause damage to families and to society in general, Fotiou replied that, “I can understand all of these concerns but our social impact studies will ensure that we keep the negative impact on society to an absolute minimum. Just look at countries such as the UK, France and Austria. They have very good regulations including membership policies and income tax identification schemes.

“When I look all around the world and see casinos in nearly every country, I can’t come up with an answer as to why one has not yet been built on the island. I often ask myself this same question.”

But Nicos Rossos, President of SAKO, The Association Confronting Social Problems, slammed the possibility of a casino opening on the island.

“In 1998, we submitted a 45-page report to parliament, highlighting the dangers of gambling,” he said. “Casinos create huge problems. There are family problems such as divorce and families also lose their homes. The state must then contribute to helping all these people and their children. I have seen countless bankruptcies over the years.

“Gamblers are like drug addicts in the way that they steal to get money to feed their addiction. The cost is to the police and judiciary and also to businesses as gamblers lose their productivity, as the only thing they think about is where to find the money to gamble. The compulsive gambler chases his losses. This is his sickness.

“Another argument trumpeted by the CTO Chairman is that casinos are necessary to compete with those in the north. If Mr Fotiou were to read the Turkish Cypriot papers, he would learn of the tragedies suffered by Turkish Cypriot families, the bribery of the police by the casino operators, the promotion of prostitution, their political influence and many other ills. Justice Minister Doros Theodorou spoke recently of money laundering by these casinos.

“Finally, it is worth noting the potential cost to the national economy for the treatment of compulsive gamblers. There are 616,700 persons aged 12 and over (we have used this base because we shall soon present a study on youth gambling in Cyprus) in the free areas. According to the Centre for Research on Human Behaviour, an NGO based in Athens, the cost of treatment per addict is £9,000. So multiply 6,167 – the conservative one per cent estimate for those likely to become addicted – by £9,000 and you get a cost of £55,503,000; assume the figure is more likely to be two per cent, and the cost to the taxpayer rises to £111,006,000. This is just the cost of treatment: it does not include casino-linked criminality.

“And as to the claim that a casino will bring in more tourists, this is absolute nonsense. Our studies have shown that that there is not a single country in the world that benefits from tourism because of casinos. In Salonica, Greece, the Chamber of Commerce told me that no tourists could be found in the local casino and the Minister for Tourism and Industry said that the casino had contributed greatly to family problems.”

Rossos added that he had nothing to gain from his anti-casino lobbying, adding that SAKO is a non-profit organisation. “I feel so strongly about this as I really care about people and don’t want to see them suffer,” he said. “The majority of people around the world that lose money due to gambling, are from the lower classes and it’s these people that can afford to lose money the least. They have fantasies that they will become rich and they get sucked dry instead.”

He concluded by saying that, “in my opinion, the House of Representatives will not give the go-ahead for a casino. They know very well about all the problems associated with casinos and it’s just not worth adding to all our existing problems.”

[Sotos]

Interim findings have proved the need for high quality casinos which will be more than mere betting shops. Research has shown that 330,000-400,000 Greek Cypriots visit casinos in the north annually, leaving behind £44 million pounds.

I think this part is very misleading. Obviously it is not 400.000 GCs!!! That would be the whole adult population. I guess there 2-3 thousands of people that are addicted and they go there several times every week.

[Alexis]

I agree with Rossos on this one, although it restricts freedom to some degree the burden of cost to society would be too much.
Perhaps some sort of compromise allowing one or two casinos to open but limiting them to a certain area might work?

[devil]

I voted no for the very obvious reasons. I would vote yes if the same rule was implemented as in Monte Carlo and San Remo: only persons not domiciled on the island would be admitted. In France, it is not a coincidence that the main casinos (Nice, Cannes, Evian, Divonne, Deauville etc.) are established where you can expect large numbers of foreigners, because locals have no right of entry.

Furthermore, it would be essential that, if they came to be (frankly, I hope not), they would have to be run by sworn government employees, as at Monte Carlo, of impeccable reputation. Just imagine the result if the Limassol mafia were able to infiltrate into them.

[Svetlana]

Would you call me cynical if I suggested that the many years' delay in making a decision is due to Ministers arguing as to who's friend/relation will get a Licence?

Lana

[sk]

i am in favour of having casinos. the social implications that some people come up with are not reasonable. of course some people will lose money or even their homes, so what?just bc a few hundreds of marriages fail we dont have to get married? if they dont want casinos then they shoud stop the horse races and the football gambling.....its either all or nothing.....they should make casinos with a limit of how much someone can gamble according to how much money he/she has and should be goverment owned and run

[Sotos]

I don't think we need casinos. I prefer to be poorer with less crime than the opposite!

[coredump]

Just imagine the result if the Limassol mafia were able to infiltrate into them.

The only "Limassol mafia" - cabaret owners, already have influence. At least they have special treatment at immigration office and even have special department there.

[lysi]

Yes we need casinos in the free areas. It will stop those daft greek cypriots from spending there pounds in the occupied north.

[pumpernickle]

I dont want to sound rude, but if casinos opened in Cyp, most people would strangely file for bankruptcy within months.

We are hopeless gamblers, and we know it. Now come on. Enough nonsense.