Penghu County's government makes plans for casinos

The Penghu County Government is planning to have plots of public land ready for the construction of casinos on the outlying main island, Penghu County Commissioner Wang Chien-fa (王乾發) said on Thursday.

Wang said the county government’s plans to introduce casinos and develop the tourism industry remained unchanged, and that it had started work on a land integration project.

“Two to three big plots of land will be ready in anticipation of an influx of investment by international conglomerates for the development of casinos and the related tourism industry,” Wang said.

Wang told the Penghu councilors that he had met with president-elect Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) several times and exchanged views with him on the county government’s plans for the tourism industry on the island chain.

Ma also promised that once Penghu residents reached a consensus on the casino issue, the central government would spare no effort to help facilitate the development, Wang said.

Wang said he expected that 2 million to 3 million tourists would visit Penghu per year once the casinos and hotels become operational.