The president of Fecoljuegos, Evert Montero Cárdenas, assured that the sector of gambling, casinos and bingos are the ones that generate the most resources for the health of Colombians. “The 365 concessionaires who are authorized to operate 2,765 establishments, represent more than 60% of the revenue Coljuegos receives for the payment of exploitation rights. For the year 2019, this type of game transferred US$ 98.2m to the health sector and about US$ 43.6m for VAT to public finances.”
Although it is true that the entire gambling industry, as well as many sectors of the economy, have been affected by the measures that have had to be adopted in the country to mitigate the spread of COVID-19; casinos and bingos have suffered a greater impact on their operation since they continue to comply with the obligation of indefinitely closing their establishments for more than two months, a situation that has prevented them from having sufficient cash flow to cover the monthly costs of the activity, amounting to US$ 68.25m.
"Operators have looked for ways to cut expenses to maintain their payroll and protect the 60,000 jobs that this industry sector generates. Added to this is the lack of access to financial institutions, since they are not granting credit lines to this activity,” stressed Montero Cárdenas.
Health can still receive even greater resources if the operation of casinos and bingo is allowed as soon as possible, since up to now with closed establishments, they have stopped receiving US$ 15.4m for exploitation rights, which could be invested in services, implements and food security to meet the needs of the emergency.
“Although the establishments are closed, the operators continue to work because they are committed to resuming activity with the corporate responsibility that the situation warrants. We do not want to improvise because what is at stake is the health of employees, clients and their families For this reason, we have signed a contract with an expert biosafety consultant to make a protocol with the sanitary measures required by the Ministry of Health and that adjust to the operation of the gambling halls, as well as, we are training the personnel of the casinos and bingos to provide sufficient trust and guarantee to the players," concluded Cárdenas.
Source: GMB
