Lottery booths target low-income areas

PHILIPSBURG -- There are 360 lottery venues in St. Maarten per February 2021, according to a study by the Social Economic Council (SER). That is, assuming population of 40,000, one booth for every 111 inhabitants. Most lottery booths are concentrated in low-income areas - because that is where the clients are.

The SER-study focuses on the impact of these lottery booths on low-income areas. St. Maarten has three times as many lottery booths as Curacao and they outpace casinos by 8 to 1.8.

The study recommends that lottery booths should not be outside a radius of one hundred meters from schools, hospitals, clinics, churches, banks and rehab centers. With some bravado, the report announces that is a proponent of a ban on selling lottery tickets to vulnerable people and gambling addicts.

Party for Progress leader Melissa Gumbs was the first to sound the alarm about the lot-