Trinidad & Tobago’s proposed new gambling legislation is getting the gears from opposition politicians over the harshness of some of its penalties.

The new Gambling (Gaming and Betting) Control Bill, 2015 seeks to overhaul the nation’s existing Gambling and Betting Act. The new bill addresses everything from casinos to pari-mutuel betting and calls for the establishment of a proper Gambling (Gaming and Betting) Control Commission to regulate the industry.

The current session of the Trinidadian parliament adjourns next week but the bill was only introduced into the House of Representatives on May 22. Opposition senators claim they aren’t being given enough time to debate the bill’s merits, let alone its perceived flaws. Among these flaws are some truly harsh penalties for anyone who fails to observe the new rules.

Case in point: the legislation says a person has committed an offence if he or she “does anything in Trinidad and Tobago or uses remote gambling equipment situated in Trinidad and Tobago for the purpose of inviting or enabling a person in a prohibited territory to participate in remote gambling.” Prohibited territories are defined as any country other than Trinidad and Tobago.