****************************** The Weekend Statesman says the job of more than 30,000 members of the National Lotto Receivers Union (NLRU), are at stake, if a controversial agreement signed between the Department of National Lotteries (DNL) and Simnet Ghana Limited gets endorsed.

Members of the union are the agents of the DNL, and Simnet is an Indian company that appears to be about to be given a contract to run the lotto business, which has been done in this country for 39 years by the DNI.

Under the 10-year agreement Simnet, is empowered to shop for retailers for DNL coupons, regardless of the existing bond between DNL and its agents. The NLRU says this puts its members at the mercy of Simnet, as there is no clause in the agreement to project them. Many of the agents have been working with the DNL for the past 30 years.

Simnet, which was introduced to the DNL by the NDC government as consultants, signed the controversial agreement with the Department of National Lotteries to restructure and improve on its 5/90 games in particular, and other games in general, and to change DNL's operations from manual to on-line. However, what was supposed to be a consultancy agreement appears to have turned out to be a partnership agreement, with Simnet having a controlling share of DNL operations, contrary to established laws regulating the operations of lotteries in the country.

The DNL/Simnet agreement cedes 81% of all proceeds from the sale of ticket to Simnet, leaving DNL with only 19%, while Simnet runs the show.