Carib Gaming in Turks and Caicos
The following article is a reprint from the Turks & Caicos Sun Newspaper, August 6 2010, Hayden Boyce SUN Publisher & Editor-in-Chief.
Two new gambling parlors for Providenciales and Grand Turk
Millionaire American investor Jack Tatum is injecting just over a million dollars into taking over and refurbishing a casino that flunked in Providenciales and opening up a new outlet in the island capital of Grand Turk by December this year.
Speaking exclusively to The SUN, Tatum confirmed that he will be taking over the spot once occupied by Player’s Club, in Turtle Cove, while simultaneously adding gaming parlors in the old Scotia Bank building in Grand Turk.
“We have leased the space that was once occupied by Players Club and we are getting ready to renovate it and rename it,” Tatum said in a telephone interview. “We will make an application for a casino license and see how it goes. We already have a slot parlor license that we could use, but we would really like to open it as a casino. I think we would qualify (for a casino license) but we are not sure how long it would take to get that license approved. We were told that someone else was looking at leasing the building but we have such a commitment to the TCI, that in spite of the economic conditions we decided that we will work at it. We are going try and do it properly and bring in a lot of new modern gaming equipment and so on. If we have to, we will operate as a parlor. I think we can do a good job. We are excited about it.”
Tatum, who bought Carib Gaming in 2001, contributes millions of dollars in gaming taxes to the TCI Government annually. He promised to do more of the same with the new joints.
He told The SUN that the equipment that is now in the defunct Players’ Club is owned by the Government, but added that he would be seeking to enter negotiations to see what, if any, of the equipment, he could salvage.
“I’m really not sure what state the equipment is in now, so we will check and make an offer for the equipment to see if the Government is interested in selling, but in any event, we will order a million dollars in equipment for the two slot parlors in Grand Turk and Provo,” he added.
“We’re excited about the opportunity to grow and we are kind of taking a gamble, no pun intended. We are just growing at a time when a lot of people are unemployed and we hope we can create some employment and other opportunities for the people of the Turks and Caicos Islands. The good thing about Carib Gaming is that we can grow without the restraints of having to borrow any capital and we have never borrowed any monies. Carib Gaming has always funded its business internally so if the economy slows down, we don’t have to be concerned about repaying any debt to anyone. That’s why we have been able to weather our way through this rough period. The Turks and Caicos Islands is such a beautiful country and there is no doubt that the economy will recover so we want to be here.”