Lawmakers request clear gaming policies

Secretary Francis Tam reassured that slot machines are banned in residential areas and those that already exist will be relocated. The new law will be finalised in the first half of 2012, he said, but lawmakers are calling for more details

Lawmakers are urging the SAR Government to disclose when it will remove gaming facilities out of residential neighbourhoods, a promise first made in late 2007.
Secretary for Economy and Finance, Francis Tam Pak Yuen, said at the time that the government would not grant more licences to lottery houses and slot machine venues in residential areas, explaining that it wanted to “gradually” remove gaming facilities from neighbourhoods.
However, almost four years have passed and the government is yet to announce a timetable, lawmakers stated in recent written interpellations.
“The government needs to disclose the timetable for removing gaming facilities from the city’s neighbourhoods as soon as possible,” Ho Ion Sang said.
According to the representative of the Macau General Union of Neighbourhood Associations, also known as Kai Fong, the rapid development of the gaming industry is deepening problems within the local community, especially related to pathological gamblers.
Figures from the Institute for the Study of Commercial Gaming showed that the prevalence of pathological gambling in Macau jumped from 1.78 percent in 2003 to 2.6 percent in 2007 and 2.8 percent last year.
Lawmaker Chan Wai Chi is also concerned and argues that the Administration should release more information about policies related to the gaming industry.
Nevertheless, in mid-September, the vice director of the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ), Leong Man Ion, said the government is yet to set a timetable.
Asked if the DICJ was discussing moving gaming amenities from residential districts with operators, Leong only said the bureau still needs time to research the best solution.
But Francis Tam revealed that the new legal system for the construction and location of casinos, slot machines and lottery houses will be ready in the first half of 2012. “Slot machines and lottery houses are banned in residential buildings and those that already exist will be relocated,” he reassured.
But this is not the only concern for lawmakers. In their written enquiries, both Ho and Chan say the growth of the gaming business is restraining the development of other industries, especially small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
Moreover, as casinos employ thousands of workers other companies are feeling pressure to find enough human resources to keep their businesses running.
“Serious problems are becoming a nuisance, like the shortage of human resources for SMEs, the widening of the income gap, and stagnant economic diversification,” said Ho.
Both lawmakers also called on the government to release more information regarding the gaming table cap.
Secretary Tam announced that after 2013, the growth rate of gaming tables will be of no more than 3 percent a year, but legislators want to know how the government arrived at that figure and what impact it will have on the development of the industry.

T.A.