A Jiwaka gambler will soon be arrested for allegedly causing the death of a security guard and injuring another.
The man drove out of a pokies site in a rage after losing all his money and bumped into two men who were providing security duties at the business premises.
As reported in this newspaper yesterday, Police said one of security guards passed on from his injuries while the other is recovering in hospital.
Non gamblers will find it hard to understand the behaviour of this unlucky gambler, who not only lost all his money, but will most probably spend a long time in jail for the death and injury he caused.
The Jiwaka man is not alone. Gambling, in its many forms, has taken its toll in so many ways on lives in this country. In the Jiwaka incident, this is the first time Police have reported a killing that was connected to pokies.
Whether we bet on sports, scratch cards, roulette, poker, bomb (card game) or slots in a casino, at the track, at home or online gambling can strain relationships, cause deaths and injuries, interfere with work and lead to financial disaster.
There are many examples of people running their businesses down from gambling, especially pokies, in our communities.
Since poker machines were introduced into this country in 1995, this form of gambling has taken hold like no other form of legal gambling.
Pokies is driving many low-income earners to the loan sharks and putting many of them into debts and even forcing others to steal money to fund gambling.
Many of our people have developed an impulse-control disorder that they are unable to control their impulse to gamble, even when it has negative consequences for them or their loved ones.
Those who are there know this very well, it does not matter whether they are down, or up, broke or flushed with cash. They keep gambling, regardless of the consequences.
One does not have to gamble every day to be a problem gambler, even when he or she can afford to play, and it can affect any one, not the weak or poor only.
The impact of pokies have prompted calls in the community and in Parliament for the government to consider banning pokies machines in PNG.
The National Gaming Control Board (NGCB) is the Regulator of this industry. It was established in 1995, two years after the poker machines were introduced into the country. The law to allow poker machines into PNG was passed by Parliament in 1994.
The industry is a major revenue earner for the government, as well as the site owners and the host provinces. In 2012, the NGCB contributed K100 million to the consolidated revenue. This figure has gone up since because of the increase in pokies sites around the country.
Gambling is a huge problem and it is already impacting on lives. We need a concerted effort at all levels of our community to discourage any form of gambling.
For poker machines, however, the government is not making any effort to join the narrative to ban poker machines because the industry is proving to be lucrative and providing employment to hundreds, making it hard to ban this form of gambling.
The onus is on those who are gambling to own up and overcome the gambling problems. Although it is going to be hard, we should find ways to end put a stop to this activity to repair our relationships, finances, and gain control of our lives.