Minister of Transportation and Communications Mao Chi-kuo (毛治國) said yesterday that regulations governing the operation of casinos would be in place by the end of the year.
“[Casinos] are a means of boosting tourism in the outlying islands,” Mao said on the first day of a two-day cross-departmental seminar on policymaking yesterday.
The minister said establishing casinos could have “side effects,” which is why “we need to have complementary measures ready when we execute the policy.”
The government is planning to issue two casino licenses in Penghu County, with the county scheduled to hold a referendum on the subject.
Mao said gaming is a new business and could pose a real challenge to civil servants, which was why the seminar could help representatives from different government agencies prepare themselves as policymakers.
The minister said all government agencies involved in the gaming business had to complete all personnel training and overseas visits this summer so that they could start drafting the main law on casinos.
Commenting on the changes needed, Mao cited police officers as an example, saying they were trained to crack down on gambling but now had to learn how to protect legal gambling.
He said the Bureau of Standards, Metrology and Inspections also had to establish a certification mechanism for equipment used in gambling. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) had to ensure that casino operators are not involved in organized crime or international money-laundering, while the Council of Labor Affairs (CLA) had to draft plans to train local workers in the gaming business.
Aside from the CLA and the MOJ, representatives from the Financial Supervisory Commission, the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Transportation and Communications also attended the seminar.
When asked how government employees were supposed to regulate casinos if they did not even know how to play blackjack or poker, Mao said that the ministry’s task was to draft laws to oversee the operation of casinos and coordinate efforts among different government agencies.
“Our job is to create an equal and fair environment for gamblers,” he said, describing the job as more like “work behind the scenes of a play.”
While more than 100 government department officials had signed up to take what Mao described as a “three-credit course,” only about 70 attended the seminar.
Mao said the nation should follow the example set by Singapore, where casinos are part of the recreational facilities offered in hotel resorts. There should also be restrictions on the space allocated to gambling establishments, he said.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong effective from 5:30pm, while local governments canceled school and work for tomorrow. A land warning is expected to be issued tomorrow morning before it is expected to make landfall on Wednesday, the agency said. Taoyuan, and well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties canceled work and school for tomorrow, as well as mountainous district of Taipei and New Taipei City. For updated information on closures, please visit the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Web site. As of 5pm today, Fung-wong was about 490km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan's southernmost point.
Almost a quarter of volunteer soldiers who signed up from 2021 to last year have sought early discharge, the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said in a report. The report said that 12,884 of 52,674 people who volunteered in the period had sought an early exit from the military, returning NT$895.96 million (US$28.86 million) to the government. In 2021, there was a 105.34 percent rise in the volunteer recruitment rate, but the number has steadily declined since then, missing recruitment targets, the Chinese-language United Daily News said, citing the report. In 2021, only 521 volunteers dropped out of the military, the report said, citing
A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck Kaohsiung at 1pm today, the Central Weather Administration said. The epicenter was in Jiasian District (甲仙), 72.1km north-northeast of Kaohsiung City Hall, at a depth of 7.8km, agency data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effects of a temblor, was highest in Kaohsiung and Tainan, where it measured a 4 on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale. It also measured a 3 in parts of Chiayi City, as well as Pingtung, Yunlin and Hualien counties, data showed.
Nearly 5 million people have signed up to receive the government’s NT$10,000 (US$322) universal cash handout since registration opened on Wednesday last week, with deposits expected to begin tomorrow, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. After a staggered sign-up last week — based on the final digit of the applicant’s national ID or Alien Resident Certificate number — online registration is open to all eligible Taiwanese nationals, foreign permanent residents and spouses of Taiwanese nationals. Banks are expected to start issuing deposits from 6pm today, the ministry said. Those who completed registration by yesterday are expected to receive their NT$10,000 tomorrow, National Treasury
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