by BARRY ALLEYNE

AFTER a two-year waiting game, the Barbados Cricket Association (BCA) will finally get its unique lottery game going.

And players should be able to start dropping in their coins from this weekend.

However, operators have been forced to make a slight change to the machines involved, removing a special feature so they can conform to being a lottery game machine and not a slot machine.

The Betting and Gaming Committee last week gave the BCA permission to place the "fixed" machines across Barbados. Those machines had an aperture known as a "bill acceptor" removed so as to be within the guidelines of the law.

The game, operated by a United States Virgin Islands-owned but Puerto Rico-based company Caribbean Cage for the BCA, will provide employment for more than 50 Barbadians, who were actually hired more than six months ago when the machines were first imported into Barbados.

"The response so far has been phenomenal. So far we are very excited about the new game," Caribbean Cage's vice-president for business development and government relations, Todd Washington, told the SATURDAY SUN on Thursday.

He said that all local businesses which became agents for the new game would get to keep 25 per cent of the proceeds.

As is the custom with games run by the BCA, some of the profit will also be disbursed to local sporting organisations and associations.

"What we are are doing is empowering Barbadians. Slot machine arcades are run by a few wealthy Barbadians, but with this lottery game everyone wins, starting with the businesses, and ending with sporting associations which certainly need the money," Washington said in an exclusive interview from his office in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Despite the delay, Caribbean Cage believes the new Democratic Labour Party Government dealt with it fairly and professionally.

"This had become a political issue but this Government did what they had to do. They dealt with the matter in a very professional way," the vice-president said.

He said a rumour that the BCA wanted to start casinos in Barbados was far from the truth.

"This is a new game, but it is part of the BCA's normal plans, within the scope of lottery games," Washington concluded.

The game will be a first for Barbados, as it utilises video lottery terminals, where players deposit coins, earn a level of credit, and then start to play on-line.