GEORGETOWN – In a performance that political insiders are labeling a “masterclass in deflection,” Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo has positioned himself as the savior of a nation besieged by gambling addiction, a crisis that his own government aggressively licensed and unleashed upon the country.
Speaking at his weekly press conference today, Jagdeo somberly detailed the “devastating impact” of gambling, lamenting how it breaks up families and creates hardships. He announced plans for “sweeping new measures,” including stricter oversight and higher taxation, to crush the very industry his administration greenlit with unprecedented fervor.
What the Vice President omitted from his moral crusade was his government’s central role in creating the epidemic. According to a former official within the Ministry of Finance, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals, the Jagdeo-led administration was the driving force behind the licensing of “well over 200 SuperBet and other betting facilities” that now saturate neighborhoods from Georgetown to Lethem.
“The current crisis isn’t an accident; it’s a delivered outcome,” the former official stated. “The licensing spree was relentless. The purpose, as we saw it, was purely revenue-driven, with a complete and utter disregard for the social consequences. To now hear him speak of broken families is staggering in its hypocrisy.”
Jagdeo’s words today painted a vivid picture of the addiction he now condemns. He described citizens glued to their phones, chasing credit to place bets, and parents shortchanging their children’s needs. Yet, this imagery stands in direct contrast to the regulatory environment his government fostered, one he himself described as “very liberal.”
“This is the ultimate act of political obscfucation,” a civil society leader, who has long campaigned against the gambling spread, told this publication. “He is the arsonist showing up with a bucket of water after the house has burned to the ground. He licensed the plague into our communities, and now he wants credit for selling the cure in the form of higher taxes. It’s cynical beyond belief.”
The government’s planned “fix”, stricter oversight and punitive taxes, has been met with deep skepticism. Critics argue that this approach does little to address the root of the problem that they engineered. Instead of shutting down the proliferation of outlets, the state appears to be creating a new revenue stream from the misery it helped foster.
The question now echoing through the halls of power is, why the sudden pivot? Another insider suggested the social decay has become too visible to ignore, and the political backlash too potent to risk.
“They’ve achieved their revenue goals, and now the bill has come due in the form of social collapse,” the source said. “This isn’t a change of heart; it’s a calculated political maneuver. He’s deflecting blame from the cause, his government’s liberal policies, and onto the symptom, the addicts and the operators. He remains the master of this game.”
As the Vice President declares, “Something has to be done about it,” a nation he has urged to trust him is left to wonder why the man now identifying the fire was the one who so deliberately handed out the matches.
