No Sri Lankan President has ever won an election on the back of a campaign promoting the vices entrenched in society. Mahinda Rajapaksa assumed power in 2005 in fact vowing to rid the country of liquor, cigarettes and narcotics through a state-backed temperance programme.

The Government’s ‘Mathata Thitha’ initiative had ambitious objectives that were supported by such parties as the Jathika Hela Urumaya. This engendered hope that, while it was impractical to expect alcohol, cigarettes or narcotics to now magically disappear from the face of Sri Lankan society, steps would at least be taken to limit their impact on the populace.

President Rajapaksa renewed his pledge at the 2010 election. But statistics still don’t point in the direction of any real temperance. Three hundred new liquor licences have been issued since 2006 and news reports abound of alcohol and drug-fuelled crimes throughout the country. And there is nary a whimper from the hitherto vociferous advocates of temperance.
Today, we are on the cusp of a new era. A Government that assumed power promising to instil discipline in society has rolled out the red carpet to global gaming kings. An Australian casino mogul has tied up with a local businessman to build an ‘integrated resort’ — a convenient euphemism for casino hotels in Colombo Fort. A Sri Lankan blue chip company is setting up a similar concern just a few kilometres away. Its international partner, if any, is yet to be named.

To begin with, the Government has reneged on its word that casinos would only be permitted within a designated zone. No such area has been defined. Instead, the glitzy new operations — with their declared potential clientele of “rich Indians and Chinese” — will be pulsating in the heart of the country’s populous commercial capital.

Secondly, the Government constantly propounds the importance of religious, cultural, social and family values. It is a dire paradox for such a regime to promote casinos as a means of achieving the economic prosperity and the millions of tourists that continue to elude the country. As representatives of the Congress of Religions asked at a news conference: Do we have nothing else to sell?

Next week, two gazettes will be presented to Parliament seeking permission for these projects. This is the final step as stipulated in the Strategic Development Projects Act of 2008 which also states that, if not approved by Parliament, an initiative taken under this law will be deemed to be rescinded.

The Congress of Religions at the poorly-attended news conference on Thursday denounced the Government’s decision to allow a proliferation of casinos. Representatives of Buddhist, Christian, Hindu and Muslim faiths urged individual Members of Parliament to listen to their conscience and reject the gazettes when they come up for voting next week.

This is unlikely to happen. Given the events of the past, when Bills impacting adversely on democracy and good governance have been endorsed by an overwhelming show of hands, it would be surprising if ruling party MPs suddenly found their conscience. But this would mean that, when the ill effects of large-scale casinos start making themselves felt– as they inevitably will — the country would know whom to blame.

In the long-term, though, what benefit would knowing whom to blame bring Sri Lankans? And whither the Dhammadveepaya — this nation’s pride for generations. Is it to be lost forever in the equation?

In our editorial of August 8 we pointed out to issues that the powers-that-be cannot be blinded to by the lure of mammon: the globally accepted phenomena of money laundering; drugs; prostitution; crime syndicates — and eventually, even politicians and their families being beholden to, and in the grip of, these casino owners as the late President R. Premadasa might have advised them if he was still alive.

There is no disputing then, that casinos come at a cost. But Sri Lanka is so eager to sell its soul to international fly-by-nights that it will not even demand its pound of flesh in return. Ten-year corporate tax holidays are given on a platter. An array of other duties will also be waived off.

Casinos are not new to Sri Lanka. We already have several of them and they have been functioning without obstacles for many years. Contrary to popular belief, nobody holds a gaming licence because there is still no licensing system in place in Sri Lanka.

Instead, they pay taxes under the Betting and Gaming Levy Act of 1988 which authorises the Department of Inland Revenue (IRD) to collect specified, annual levies from the industry without affording legality to betting centres and casinos.
Sri Lanka’s Casino Business (Regulation) Act of 2010, which is just three pages, envisages a licensing system which is yet to be implemented. Regulations must first be gazetted under this Act to give it effect.

Government officials say Sri Lanka is now devising a system of controls designed on the Singaporean casino regulatory model. They are yet to be revealed, even in draft form. It is not known whether a process of public consultation will be followed to ensure they are foolproof; or foolproof as they can ever be. Or whether, like most things, a few people behind closed doors, in their wisdom, will decide what is best for the 21 million people of this country.

After Singapore lifted a ban on gambling, two integrated resorts inclusive of casinos opened up in 2010 in that city-state that has, unlike Sri Lanka, nothing else to sell other than its services. But it also introduced bundles of rules and regulations to keep the sector in check. And the Singaporean Government continues to make up more as the gaming sector and its regulators mature.

On Australian soil, the prospective investor venturing into Sri Lanka to turn Colombo into a veritable ‘sin city’, has had to contend with pages and pages of rules and regulations. Here, unless the Government does follow through with its promise to organise and manage the industry, it will be a cakewalk for him.

The Colombo Stock Exchange earned for itself a reputation of being a clearing house for ‘black money’ made through shady commissions by certain individuals close to the Government ‘big shots’. Are the casinos the next step in the exercise? (Editorial)

Source: Sunday Times (Sri Lanka)