Gambling on

French Polynesia

Gambling on a casino

By Al Prince

THERE once was a large map of the world sold locally that had Tahiti located dead center with the rest of the world falling off the edges or not shown at all. Such an egotistical outlook on the world is typical among the masses of any small place where the value of anything new is often judged by what effect, good or bad, it will have on the local population. Such thinking may have a tendency to ignore the possibility that anything new might be of tremendously important value to the loc al scene without being made available to the local masses.

This is what has happened since Tour

ism Minister Napoleon Spitz recently

announced that Tahiti’s Territorial Gov

ernment is seriously considering opening

a gambling casino as a tourist attraction.

Organised religious leaders, the French news media and the public automatically assumed, it would appear, that such a casino would be open to the local public

as well as tourists. That explains why the Catholic and Protestant Churches have strongly come out opposing a casino. It also explains why a man-in-the-street survey by the French newspaper, Les Nouvelles de Tahiti, found that 55 per cent of those questioned were opposed to a casino.

However, Tourism Minister Spitz made it very dear on the night of Au gust 10 that a casino would only be for foreign tourists and not local residents.

The Protestant Evangelic Church en ded its 105th Synod on August 11 by announcing that it, too, was opposed to a casino.

“Money is one thing that should not be made the object of gambling, and the sight of gamblers risking huge amounts constitutes a bad example, fostering de lusions, exercising tempting effects,” the synod claimed.

“The synod recalls its categoric opposi tion to this type of project and calls for action to be taken by the officials con cerned.”

Mahina Mayor Emile Vernaudon a government minister, said he planned to propose to Spitz that a 100-year-old mansion in the north coast Commune of Mahina be used for a casino.

However, a spokesperson for Spitz

confirmed that the Tourism Minister knew of Vernaudon’s proposed use of the house, which the Mahina municipal government recently purchased, accord ing to Vernaudon. The survey con ducted by Nouvelles de Tahiti , ques tioned only 100 people, regarded by some as not enough to present a better survey. The breakdown was 50 Polyne sians, 33 Europeans, one American and 16 tourists Americans, French, Swiss and Italians. Among the Tahitians ques tioned, 28 out of 50 were against a casi no, the newspaper reported. Among the Europeans living in Tahiti, 45 per cent were against a casino, as was the single American resident. The newspaper re ported that 75 per cent of the European tourists were also opposed to a casino.

In numbers, that would mean 28 Tahitians, 14.85 Europeans, one Amer ican and 12 European tourists were opposed to a casino. However, Les Nouvelles reported that among all those questioned, the Europeans were more favourable to a casino (57 per cent) than Tahitians. The majority (88 per cent of those questioned felt that a casino would attract tourists, while 50 per cent felt a casino would create a different type of tourism, attracting even more wealthy tourists than at the moment. □