The Samoa National Lotto has suspended lottery games and televised bingo until Alert Level 2 restrictions are lifted, just a week after opening under the current State of Emergency Orders. 

A public notice issued by the Samoa National Lotto (S.N.L.) management on Tuesday advised of the changes with the office closing effective Wednesday this week. 

The management said this means there will be no Samoa National Lotto draw and Samoa National TV Bingo games this week.

“All Samoa National Lotto tickets, Samoa National TV Bingo tickets and Samoa National bonus tickets already purchased will be forwarded and used in our next Samoa National Lotto draw and Samoa National TV Bingo games once the current Level 2 restrictions are lifted,” the notice stated. “We apologise for any inconvenience caused and will advise once we resume normal service.

“We thank our customers for their support and patience and wish you all a safe and happy Easter.” 

The latest S.O.E. Orders No. 76 states that all other businesses are permitted to operate from 6am to 2pm from Monday to Saturday except for businesses that use “gaming facilities”. 

The Chief Executive Officer for Samoa Gambling Authority, Tuala Siaki Tuala was asked via email if the gambling games are authorised to operate under the current S.O.E. Orders. 

He was also asked why the TV Bingo is allowed to operate and earn revenue during the hours that businesses are barred from opening – on top of that other groups are not permitted to have bingo games. 

Tuala did not respond to any questions from the Samoa Observer but the S.N.L. has issued several public notices responding to concerns raised by the public.

The national gambling agency has been in the hot seat since last Saturday, when a pre-recording of the lotto draw video got mixed up, drawing criticism from a lot of players. 

In its attempt to clear the air, the S.N.L. issued a public notice on Monday to “clarify” concerns raised by the public on the bungled up recording. 

The S.N.L. said the Samoa Sportslotto draw No. 653 at 12.30pm last Saturday was pre-recorded and done in compliance with the current lockdown conditions including the 2pm business closure.

The draw was done under the supervision of the Police Ministry and recorded by their television S.N.L. marketing officers and it was uploaded to their Facebook page at 6.30pm on Saturday.

“When this [pre-recorded draw] was loaded onto our Facebook page, one of our previous draws on February 19, 2022 draw No. 646 momentarily played,” the Management explained. “This was stopped immediately and the current draw to No. 653 of the 9 April 2022 continued loading. 

“Unfortunately some Facebook users took a screenshot of the previous draw No. 646, editing this and reposting it to further confuse the public.”