SANGAM PRASAIN
KATHMANDU, FEB 03 -
Continued defiance by casinos of government orders to clear their royalty dues and bar Nepalis from entering their premises has prompted the parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC) to issue the sternest directives against them till date.
PAC on Wednesday even asked the government to explore the possibility of relocating the gambling houses outside the Kathmandu Valley. Stating that the haphazard running of casinos in the Capital has made negative impact on the society, the PAC directed the government to relocate them outside the Capital.
PAC has instructed the Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation (MoTCA) to draft a working procedure for casinos within 15 days in consultation with the Home and Finance ministries and implement it.
With the casinos still running without a Casino Act, the committee has also instructed the government to prepare laws governing casinos at the earliest. “As of now, we do not have any act that says that it is illegal for Nepalis to enter a casino. The terms of reference (TOR) while issuing licenses for casinos only has a condition applied to operators that they will not allow Nepali into their casinos,” said home secretary Govinda Kusum.
PAC has also directed the government to explore the possibility of shifting the casinos out of the Kathmandu Valley. Inspector General of Police Ramesh Chand Thakuri supports the plan to move the casinos out of Kathmandu. “Relocating casinos from the capital could be an option to regulate and manage them well,” said Thakuri.
Finance Secretary Rameshwor Khanal was also in favour of relocating casinos outside the Capital. “Instead of running casinos without guidelines in the Capital, they can be relocated to a location that can be developed into casino hub,” said Khanal. “Las Vegas of the US and Macau are some examples of casino hubs.”
In order to curb illegal entry of Nepali citizens, the Nepal Police had proposed to the Home Ministry to relocate the casinos to the outskirts of the capital from downtown.
Following the proliferation of electronic gaming clubs (mini-casinos) outside Kathmandu, PAC has asked the government to shut them down. Of late, star hotels outside Kathmandu have been running such gaming clubs. And a number of them were even inaugurated by Tourism Minsiter Sharat Singh Bhandari. The onsite inspection of MoTCA had found that mini-casino at Hotel Sneha, Nepalgunj, had flouted the norms. “We’ve found that the casino is being run against the spirit of the license,” said Tourism Secretary Kishore Thapa. “The ministry has taken this issue seriously.”
These “mini-casinos” were given licenses without consulting other ministries. Finance secretary Rameshwor Khanal said that the MoTCA issued licenses for mini-casinos two years ago without consulting them. “We have forwarded a letter to the MoTCA stating that issuing licenses unilaterally was not right,” Khanal said.
A minister-level decision of the MoTCA allowed the operation of electronic gaming clubs, but these clubs have upgraded themselves to mini-casinos. Tourism secretary Kishore Thapa has admitted to this.
Despite the constant pressure of revenue authorities, four casinos—Casino Anna, Casino Shangri-La, Casino Nepal and Casino Fulbari—haven’t cleared their royalty dues. PAC on Dec. 29, 2010 had issued directives to the government to scrap the licenses of casinos failing to clear their dues within 35 days. This deadline will end on Feb. 11. It is still not clear whether the government will go for cancelling their permits.
As of now, these four casinos owe Rs 188.83 million in royalty dues to the government. Of them, Casino Anna, Casino Nepal and Casino Shangri-La have not paid any money.
If the casinos do not pay up, the government is mulling seizing their land and property. “The ministry could confiscate three ropanis of land and a house at Kalimati which is under the name of Nepal Recreation Centre if it fails to clear the dues by the time limit,” said Khanal.
Lawmakers on Wednesday asked the government to be serious about the casino issue. Stating that frequent raids by the police could frighten away tourists, UML lawmaker Rabindra Adhikari said that casino operators should be made more accountable.
Tourism secretary Kishore Thapa said that the frequent raids and arrests in hotels have terrorised tourists. “If casinos are important for Nepali tourism, then they should be properly managed; if not, they should be closed,” Thapa said. If the government decides to shut them down, it should be done gradually as around 10,000 people are currently employed in this business, he added.
PAC has also asked the Home Ministry to amend the Gambling Act.
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