Inside Asian Gaming

INSIDE ASIAN GAMING OCTOBER 2018 12 MACAU GOVERNMENT MULLS MANDATORY CASINO CLOSURES IN PUBLIC EMERGENCIES THE MACAU SAR Government is considering introducing laws that would make the city-wide suspension of casino operations mandatory in the case of a public emergency. The provision for mandatory casino closures forms part of a government proposal to overhaul the city’s civil protection system, which was recently put out for public consultation. Although there is currently no specific law enabling authorities to order a blanket suspension of casino operations. Macau’s six concessionaires all agreed to close their doors for the first time when Typhoon Mangkhut lashed the city on 15 and 16 September – the second time in as many years that a T10 typhoon had hit Macau following the devastating Typhoon Hato in August 2017. Speaking to reporters in the ensuing days, Macau’s Secretary for Economy and Finance, Lionel Leong, said it was still too early to predict whether a mandatory closure regulation would form part of the new civil protection system. “Will the closure in the future be regular? For the time being, I still cannot say,” he said. Leong added, however, that the Chief Executive does retain the power to issue an “exceptional measure” decree to order the closure of casinos, which was utilized last weekend. Macau’s casinos were ultimately ordered shut for a period of 29 hours from 23:00 on Saturday 15 September until 04:00 on Monday 17 September.