Gambling to be legalized in Guyana

The mechanism is being put in place to pave the way for casino gambling in Guyana.

President Bharat Jagdeo said that draft regulations for the establishment of a gaming authority under legislation to facilitate casino gambling should be on Cabinet's agenda very soon.

The Stabroek News newspaper reported on Sunday that Jagdeo said he had seen the draft regulations — "just the basic elements of the gaming authority."

One of the major investors, the new buyer of Buddy's International Hotel, Sudi Ozkan, told Stabroek News in an interview, that he intended to operate a casino out of the hotel at Providence, East Bank Demerara, but had not obtained any licences at that time.

Ozkan, who is known in Turkey, his native country, as the "Casino King," said that establishing a casino would be an expensive undertaking, but he would nevertheless be pursuing it.

The Turkish magnate, who plans to take over full management of the hotel by October this year, could not apply for a casino premises licence or a casino licence because the gaming authority regulations are not yet in place.

(Caribbean Net News)