Senate Vice President Kenneth L. Gittens has expressed his concern over the recent cyberattacks reported at the Virgin Islands Lottery, its negative economic impact, and the overall security of the Virgin Islands Government’s computer systems.
“I have expressed concern for quite some time now that the computerized drawings are causing folks to lose faith in the integrity of the process,” Senator Gittens said. “While we definitely need to shore up all of the Government’s computer systems against cyberattacks, I do see a return to a manual process, like the ball drop, for selecting lottery winners as preferable. This is one place where I don’t see digitization as beneficial.”
Senator Gittens has concerns about both the short and long term economic impact of suspending lottery operations.
“People are increasingly concerned about how the lottery is operating, which translates into less ticket sales,” Senator Gittens said. “This in turn hurts the many people that rely on lottery sales for income, as well as on all the programs that the Lottery supports.”
Senator Gittens, who has long called for consolidating all of the Territory’s gaming under the Casino Control Commission, said that the recent closure of the Lottery Office has only emphasized the need to reorganize its operations.
“We need to consolidate our resources and have one strong gaming enforcement arm to professionally manage and protect all games of chance here in the Virgin Islands,” he said. “I do think it is long past time to put all these issues on the table at a public hearing.”
