Be fair to pokies site operators

A NUMBER of site operators of pokies machines in Port Moresby have taken offence to the National Gaming Control Board (NGCB) bragging about increasing its revenues when it’s not sorting out the long-outstanding issue of an equitable sharing of current pokies revenues (The National, June 15).
At the moment, the monthly revenue is shared 75 per cent to the NGCB and 25 per cent to the site operators.
A further two per cent is taken out of the operators’ 25 per cent share, leaving the operator with a mere 23 per cent or so each month.
The operator then has to pay for staff wages, security, rent, electricity, water and repay bank loans.
That leaves a tiny 5 per cent or so of gross monthly revenue for profit.
This has been raised to the NGCB chairman and chief executive so many times in writing and in meetings but the board has not done anything about this.
The issue of equitable sharing has not even been placed as an agenda before board.
We, the operators, demand that the NGCB immediately address this issue and make a determination.
A fairer equation is that 60 per cent of gross monthly revenue should go to the site operators who bear all the costs of making this money.
Some Papua New Guinean businesses are operating pokies machines and it is the Government’s job to assist them with better revenue so that they can grow family-owned businesses.
Even if the NGCB’s 75 per cent is seen as taxation, it is massively excessive by any standards in any country in the world.
Indeed, it may be argued that the Government, through the NGCB is using site operators, some of whom are citizens of this country, as slaves to increase its revenue.
Any forensic analysis of the board’s costs of regulating the pokies machines in this country will show that they are killing businesses. Before the NGCB talks about casinos and any other forms of gambling, it should deal with the pokies site operators’ issue for a fair and equitable share of the monthly pokies revenue.
The site operators demand 60 per cent share of the monthly revenue and 40 per cent to the NGCB.

Site Operator