Jackpot Sales Dip Slightly Amid Transparency Questions

While lucky winners are rushing to collect their prizes, Belize Government Lotteries Limited is acknowledging a slight dip in sales for this year’s Million Dollar Jackpot draw, falling short of expectations despite it being the game’s second year. Officials say ticket sales declined by just over eight thousand dollars compared to last year. It is a drop they believe may be linked to public doubt over transparency, following questions raised about the disclosure of winners and confirmation of payouts. Belize Government Lotteries says while all winners have been paid in accordance with the law, the concerns may have affected public confidence and ultimately sales. Here again is Managing Director Janel Espat, addressing the figures and the concerns raised.

 

On the Phone: Janel Espat, Managing Director, Belize Government Lotteries

“We saw that there was a decrease of $8,000 in sales this year. And we had hoped that because it was the second year now that we were doing it, that the sales would have far exceeded a million dollars. So last year our sales were $924,140, and this year our sales were $916,910. So unfortunately we did not turn a profit. We had hoped that if there was a profit, that we would have made a donation for whatever those profits were to a charitable organization in Belize. Nevertheless the sales were sufficient to maintain the payout percentage within the desired 70 to 72% that we try to maintain. We do feel that the sales that we had this year were not as much as we had hoped it would have been. And we do feel that in some way it may be as a result of some doubt that was cast because of the. There was mention from the media that perhaps all 14 winners did not receive their payment, and they made mention of us not disclosing their names or their image. And as a matter of fact, this morning, the four people that have collected three of them consented to have us use their image from the neck down.”