Inside Asian Gaming

MArch 2016 inside asian gaming 45 gaming machines have wreaked so much damage to people’s lives.” One of several national newspapers attacking FOBTs, the London Times said they were “drug delivery machines and should be regulated as such,” adding, “The rise of fixed-odds betting terminals is a scourge of impoverished neighborhoods and vulnerable families.” It said a £400 million annual tax take from the machines was behind the UK’s Cabinet Office blocking a review of them last November. In a separate development, UK newspapers also revealed that the National Problem Gambling Clinic in London was piloting treatment using naltrexone. The medication, which is usually given to those with severe drug and alcohol problems, helps stop craving and costs £272 (US$385) per patient per year. Israel and Jordan Mull Casinos INTERNATIONAL BRIEFS facing Jordan, which has been deluged by refugees fleeing the Syrian civil war. In 2003 and 2007 the Jordanian government gave the go-ahead for casinos in locations including Aqaba and the coast of the Dead Sea. Both times, however, protests by religious conservatives halted the projects. Mega-resort Project Threatens Bahamas with Bankruptcy Israel and Jordan are both considering allowing casinos to boost tourism and government revenues. In Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu announced he was setting up a steering committee headed by Tourism Minister Yariv Levin to explore the possibility of casinos in the southern resort city of Eilat, to save the city “from economic failure and create thousands of jobs.” While Eilat’s tourism industry has shrunk by 40% in the last five years, illegal gambling in Israel is thought to be a US$280 to US$380 million industry. Netanyahu reportedly favors casinos that would be open to foreign tourists only, while the Tourism Ministry favors admitting Israeli citizens too. Ultra-Orthodox parliamentary factions, such as Jewish Home, Shas and United Torah Judaism, say they will oppose the plan. Rejecting claims that he had a personal interest in the push, Netanyahu said Sheldon Adelson did not intend to bid for a project in Eilat. The billionaire, who is a big supporter of Netanyahu, attempted to open a casino in Israel during the 1990s but was repeatedly thwarted by tourism ministers. Meanwhile, Jordan’s vice-prime minister Abu al-Ragheb said his government was considering lifting the country’s ban on casino gambling to issue licenses for the port of Aqaba on the Red Sea or other tourist destinations. In a speech to the Amman Chamber of Industry, he cited difficult economic conditions The crisis surrounding Baha Mar – a bankrupt casino-resort project in the Bahamas that is being dubbed “the world’s biggest white elephant” – took a turn when local media published details of a memo it said suggested the resort’s main contractor, China Construction America CCA, had misled both Bahamian Prime Minister Perry Christie and Baha Mar’s Chairman and CEO Sarkis Izmirlian into believing it could meet the 27 March 2015 opening deadline. The internal memo warns CCA’s Beijing parent China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC) of severe difficulties in meeting the deadline due to inadequate staffing. CCA issued it two weeks after CSCEC and the project’s main financer, Export-Import Bank of China, sat down with Izmirlian and Christie in Beijing in January last year to assure them Baha Mar was on schedule. Izmirlian went ahead after the meeting to hire over 2,000 staff for the resort, at a cost of US$4 million per month, and launch a global advertising campaign. After CCA missed its deadline and Izmirlian tried, unsuccessfully, to file for bankruptcy in the US, Baha Mar became the property of the Chinese state-owned lender. Izmirlian, who has lost the US$900 million he sank into the project, is suing for breach of contract, alleging CCA failed to deploy sufficient contractors and resources. CCA says Izmirlian’s numerous design changes caused the delay. Christie, meanwhile, has been meeting potential investors in Europe, with Malaysia’s Genting Group named as a possible buyer. Export-Import Bank says it wants to recover the US$2.45 billion it lent for Baha Mar, but critics say this is unrealistic given deterioration and an estimated US$600 million needed to bring Baha Mar to completion. Given the project’s scale, some have accused China of deliberately stalling in order to achieve colonial- style control over the Bahamas. Baha Mar was supposed to generate 12% of GDP and US$74 million is owed to local contractors. Delays have already caused one downgrading of national debt by ratings agency Standard & Poors. If another follows, commentators say increased borrowing costs could bankrupt the nation.