Yeh Chu-lan still vacillating over gambling issue

Though Minister of Transportation and Communications Yeh Chu-lan (葉菊蘭) said yesterday that casinos were not the only way to promote tourism on Taiwan's outlying islands, she stopped short of promising they were out of the question.

Speaking at the Legislative Yuan yesterday, Yeh said there were many ways to develop tourism on offshore islands, adding that the ministry envisions turning Penghu into Taiwan's Gold Coast by combining its natural beauty with luxurious hotels for family vacations.

But Yeh would only say that she would oppose the establishment of casinos in such places until public gaming facilities were legalized.

A political uproar over the possibility of allowing casinos on outlying islands began last week when Chang Po-ya (張博訝), minister of the interior, said during a legislative interpellation session that the government supported gambling.

During the meeting, Chang said that President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) supported gambling as a way of developing Taiwan's outlying islands.

Since Chang blurted out the government's plans in the making, the DPP administration has been struggling to remedy the situation, playing down the decision or saying it had yet to make a final decision on the matter.

Criticism of the proposal has been harsh, especially since the DPP in the past was one of the strongest opponents of gambling.

DPP lawmaker Wang To (王拓) was positive about Yeh's plan, but cautioned her ministry to take into consideration the island's traffic network, accommodation, sanitation and historical and cultural background in developing tourism.

The Penghu project's developers have already acknowledged that while their present plans do include an optional casino, currently they are only authorized to construct a hotel in Paisha (白沙) township.

That plan is still in an early stage as the two key partners -- the Las Vegas Sands and Penghu Bay Development Company -- have only discussed the terms of a proposed memorandum of understanding.

The first phase of the company's project was approved by the Penghu County Government on March 2 for the construction of a 320-room hotel there.

Construction of the NT$4.5 billion hotel project is expected to begin soon and will include an indoor and outdoor water park and shopping arcade by 2003.

The five-star complex would face virtually no competition, as the island group has 17 hotels that together offer just 915 rooms. None of these are even of three-star quality.

As for the casino portion of the project, it is expected to be completed by 2006 at a cost of NT$9 billion. The four-phase project is expected to be completed in 2013 and would offer about 2,320 rooms at a total cost of nearly NT$22 billion.