Bryan Phillips, President of the Association of Members Clubs in Trinidad and Tobago, informed this week that the AMC has the feeling the government is cheating on them. On one side, they say, Junior Finance Minister Conrad Enill is giving them hope during their meetings while on the other side, Prime Minister Manning maintains his position of closing them down.

“Every time we have a meeting with Minister Enill, he refuses to give us minutes even though we’ve requested this,” Philips explained. “He simply says it’s a dialogue meeting, but then he changes his story. He mentions to us that foreign clubs are really the problem, but I see a news report where he says that this is the AMC’s position, not his.”

Officials of the AMC also argue that closing the clubs would mean firing about 7,000 workers. In response to these allegations, Minister Enill said that although the Prime Minister intends to ban slot machines, there is a gap in the law that allows private clubs to have slots. He also explained that since slot machines do not require human work to run them, claims by the AMC about people being dismissed are not sustainable.

“If the government decides to close down any of the foreign-owned clubs, the AMC would absorb those workers,” Philips explained. He said it would be possible by adding more tables and equipments, something they have not done yet due to the current insecure situation of the industry.