Thimphu (Kuensel/ANN) - The Bhutan government has decided to close Bhutan Lottery, which last brought in revenue of 220 million ngultrum (US$4.8 million) a year.
The decision was taken during the 111th cabinet meeting on Tuesday, August 23, after the cabinet heard clarifications and responses to a Royal Audit Authority (RAA) observation of its operations.
¿Viewing lottery as no less than gambling and a complex business that can always elude regulations, and also in view of the operations being conducted in a foreign soil, the Cabinet has decided that it will finally do away with the lottery operations altogether," a press release from the Cabinet stated.
The Cabinet also decided that ¿moral responsibility and accountability must be fixed¿ for those responsible, although what actions they would take was not explained.
The Cabinet stated they felt that Bhutan Lottery has been mismanaged, deliberately or not, for which the government has suffered embarrassment, and had its intentions questioned by the Bhutanese media.
¿While the Cabinet was satisfied with most of the clarifications and explanations provided by the finance ministry on the audit observation, it found a few areas weren¿t clearly explained," it stated. ¿The Cabinet also observed that the Lottery Directorate had failed to draw the attention of the government to some of the developments that led to the current situation, to offer timely advice."
The release further stated that although this decision to discontinue with Bhutan Lottery means losing the kind of revenue the government has had access to, the Cabinet decided that it will no longer engage in a business, which operates in an environment the government or the people of Bhutan have no control over."
Based on the media reports both in India and Bhutan, RAA carried out a special audit of Bhutan Lottery Directorate. The RAA recommended continuing the lottery business, given its potential and suggested major streamlining.
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