A bill that legalizes gambling on the nation’s outlying islands was presented on Friday by the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) as the country moves toward a showdown over allowing the controversial industry.
The ministry cited the need to provide investment incentives to economically disadvantaged offshore islands, including -Penghu and Kinmen, and said it has studied the feasibility of opening the islands to gambling since 2009.
They have drawn inspiration from Singapore, whose integrated resorts on its Sentosa Island and Marina Bay have attracted millions of visitors each year.
“We think it’s possible to follow the business model Sentosa applied through the introduction of integrated resorts,” said Eric Hsu, -attorney-at-law with Lin & Partners Law Office, which was commissioned by the MOTC to help develop the proposal.
Over the years, Taiwan’s authorities have gradually warmed up to the idea of partially legalized gambling, with economic planning authorities announcing in 2008 that the government had agreed to allow it under the condition that casinos be part of a more comprehensive leisure resort.
Still, public opinion is split on the issue. In a government--sponsored poll conducted in 2008, 44 percent of the population supported legalization, whereas 36 percent opposed it.
To prevent excessive gambling, Hsu said, the bill also introduces supplementary measures. For example, a gambling bureau that functions similarly to the Tourism Bureau will be established to supervise the industry. In addition, people under the age of 20 will not be allowed to enter casinos. He also plans to bar anyone who receives government subsidies.
The Taipei Department of Health yesterday said it has launched a probe into a restaurant at Far Eastern Sogo Xinyi A13 Department Store after a customer died of suspected food poisoning. A preliminary investigation on Sunday found missing employee health status reports and unsanitary kitchen utensils at Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) in the department store’s basement food court, the department said. No direct relationship between the food poisoning death and the restaurant was established, as no food from the day of the incident was available for testing and no other customers had reported health complaints, it said, adding that the investigation is ongoing. Later
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