Reuters – Sri Lanka has approved Australian Crown Resorts Ltd’s $400 million complex along with two similar projects, but without any explicit permission to operate casinos at them, the island’s junior investment minister said on Tuesday.
However, Crown’s chief, gambling tycoon James Packer, would still be able to operate a casino in his mixed-development project through his local partner, the minister said.
The government’s decision to alter the deal’s terms came after opposition politicians said Packer was getting concessions not given to local entrepreneurs and Buddhist leaders said the casino could be detrimental to Sri Lanka’s culture.
Faizer Mustapha, the deputy investment promotion minister said a new gazette notification has been issued for Packer’s joint venture and two similar requests by Sri Lanka’s top conglomerate John Keells Holdings and a leading local businessman Dhammika Perera respectively.
A gazette notification is issued after an approval by the cabinet of ministers before being presented to the parliament.
“The applications are for mixed development projects, which include convention centre, shopping malls, and five-star hotels,” Mustapha told Reuters.
“This gazette notification has no mention about a casino anywhere. So it doesn’t deal with running a casino, operating a casino, or approving a casino.”
However, he said there was a separate mechanism for operating a casino in Sri Lanka and government policy was not to issue any new casino licences, but to allow existing approvals to operate under regulations passed in 2010.
