Martin Nyirenda
16 June 2009
The Responsible Gaming Botswana Programme, an initiative wholly driven by licensed casino operators, was launched last Thursday at the Grand Palm Resort in Gaborone.
Under the new programme, all casinos will be required to market and promote a toll-free support line linked to Lifeline Botswana.
The launch, a partnership between the Gaming Association of Botswana and Lifeline Botswana, marks the commitment of stakeholders to creating a responsible gaming environment to assist players who need help with gambling-related anti-social behaviour.
Said the Chairman of Gaming Association of Botswana, Bruce Page-Wood: "Gaming is a fun pastime and a pleasurable social activity allowing players to relax. It is important to always stay in control and not to play beyond your means.
"The Responsible Gaming Botswana Programme provides players who gamble beyond their means with appropriate channels to seek support. Professional, qualified counsellors from Lifeline Botswana are available to give advice and support. We fully support and are committed to ensuring that all our players have access to the support it provides."
The Chairman of Lifeline Botswana, Elsie Alexander, said her organisation has provided free counselling services to individuals and their families from all walks of life regardless of class, status, age and gender over the decades and trained more than 300 volunteers on lay counselling.
The Chairman of the Botswana Casino Control Board, Leta Mosienyane, said while the majority of Batswana that gamble do so with little or no adverse consequences, the percentage of adults with gambling problems is bound to increase with time as gambling becomes more socially acceptable and accessible.
He observed that concerns are growing about the impact of gambling on society and the potential problem of "problem gamblers: "The Draft Gaming and Gambling Bill provides that members of the public who participate in any licensed gambling activity shall be protected and that society and the economy shall be protected against over-stimulation of the latent demand for gambling," he said.
The law is being designed with the intention of controlling legalised gambling activity to ensure that society and the economy is not over-stimulated thus lessening the extent of possible problem gambling.
Mosienyane admitted that gambling is a sensitive industry that can become a liability when not properly run. He spoke of the importance of balancing the socio-economic side-effects of gambling with positive effects, saying all the evidence indicates that if the gambling is not checked, more problems will surface.
Mosienyane said there is a need to understand the whole industry, which includes the positive effects, economic effects and possible negative and socio-economic effects, adding that Internet gaming would also allow access to a wide range of gambling opportunities into homes, posing fresh challenges for regulation, harm minimisation and taxation.
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