The President of the Fiji Council of Churches and Head of the Catholic Church, Archbishop Peter Loy Chong says there is a need for more consultation and research for the establishment of a casino in the country, and he is also disappointed that the government did not show up for a consultation session yesterday although they were invited.
Speaking to fijivillage News after the consultation between the Fiji Council of Churches and the David Group that was held at the Holiday Inn, Chong says what the churches overseas have been informing them is that casinos will hurt the people.
He says we cannot say anything in Fiji as we don’t have a casino and we haven’t experienced its effects, so there is a need for more research and consultation to be done to get the views of everyone.
The Archbishop also highlighted that casino machines are constructed in a way that it always wins and he questions where is the fairness in this.
He says the David Group had said that their investment would resolve the economic problems in Fiji, however, the Archbishop says that solving the economic problem requires a process of research, understanding what is the root cause, identifying the needs and then finding out what is the best solution.
He adds it's too quick and unverified to say that the casino will solve the country’s economic problems because it's only one small section of the country’s population, and it does not involve a lot of people from the grassroots.
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