Gambling hot in Batam despite public protest<\/p>\n
Fadli, The Jakarta Post, Batam, Riau<\/p>\n
Despite strong protests, gambling in Batam has continued to grow,
\nbut what has many religious and community leaders upset is that
\nthe owners are are breaking the law right under the noses of
\nlocal security authorities.<\/p>\n
The local administration as well as the central government
\nhave strict laws which ban gambling in all its forms, but there
\nare at least five large gambling dens on the island, and almost
\nall the hotels on the island have provided special areas for
\ngambling to visitors, mostly from Malaysia and Singapore.<\/p>\n
Goodway Hotel, a new hotel with the Mandarin Hotel group,
\nbelonging to Jakarta-based businessman Tomy Winata, has its
\nspecial armed team to guard gambling activities in the hotel. It
\nis no longer a secret that Tanjung Pinggir Restaurant, Pura Jaya
\nResort, Formosa Hotel, Oasis Hotel and Tering Bay in Nongsa
\ndistrict have small casinos with a daily turnover of billions of
\nrupiah.<\/p>\n
The local police claimed that they did not have any
\ninformation on gambling at the hotels and restaurants and they
\nhad never been asked by the local administration to crack down on
\ngambling.<\/p>\n
\"The police know nothing about the gambling areas on the
\nisland or other places,\" Sr. Comr. Suhartono, chief of the Batam,
\nRembang and Galang Police Precincts, told The Jakarta Post over
\nthe weekend.<\/p>\n
Suhartono added, however that any sort of the gambling
\nactivities would attract more foreign businessmen to the island.<\/p>\n
Batam Mayor Nyat Kadir has recently issued a ban for hotels
\nand restaurants to provide gambling facilities on the island,
\nafter a serious warning from the central government.<\/p>\n
Minister of Home Affairs Hari Sabarno said recently that
\ndespite regional autonomy, the central government would never
\nallow local administrations to issue a license for gambling
\nbecause it was against the Criminal Code.<\/p>\n
The Riau Provincial Police are still investigating Nyat Kadir
\nfor the issuance of permit to a local company to provide a casino
\non Tering Bay, in Nongsa, which has sparked strong opposition
\nfrom numerous sides on the island.<\/p>\n
Separately, a number of nongovernmental organizations called
\non the central government and the National Police to step in and
\nhalt the gambling activities which were backed up by strong, even
\ndangerous, organized clans from Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Yudi Kurnain, coordinator of the National Youth Front (BOM
\nWarna), said the local police in Batam would not be able to close
\ndown the gambling dens because each had powerful backing from
\nJakarta.<\/p>\n
\"The police have decided to become deaf and blind, so they are
\npowerless. We have suspicions that the local police are also
\nbeing paid to allow the gambling,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The chairman of the local chapter of the Indonesian Ulemas
\nCouncil (MUI), Assyari Abbas, concurred and said everybody living
\non the island knew about the hotels and other places that
\nprovided gambling facilities, but the police have closed their
\neyes into it.<\/p>\n
\"The problem is that the local police can not close down the
\ngambling areas because they are tightly guarded by armed men,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Nyat Kadir conceded that gambling has been a complicated
\nproblem which would be very difficult to cope with.<\/p>\n
\"That is why I tried to establish a special gambling arena in
\nNongsa like the one the Malaysian government did with Tanah
\nGenting, but it has sparked protest from local people,\" he said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/gambling-hot-in-batam-despite-public-protest-1447893297",
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