36 of the Seribu islands on offer for casino locations

Ahmad Junaidi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

City administration officials are currently offering 36 unpopulated islands in Kepulauan Seribu (Thousand islands) regency to investors for the development of casinos.

"We have 36 islands available, which are now uninhabited, for investors to develop casinos," City Administration Spokesman, Muhayat said, while adding that the islands were in the northern portion of the regency, but he declined to name them.

He said that the islands were among 45 previously unpopulated islands, which were owned or managed by private companies and businesspeople. There are a total of 110 islands in Kepulauan Seribu, which was declared by Governor Sutiyoso as a new regency within Jakarta province last November.

He said that nine of those 45 islands had been developed as resorts, while the remaining 36 were either empty or used for private purposes, although their permits were for tourism.

The islands on offer for the casinos may include Laki, Pelangi, East Kotok, West Kotok, Sepa, Melintang, Karang Kudus, Tongkeng and Opak Besar. They can be reached by speed boat in one hour from Marina beach in Ancol, North Jakarta.

Another island that could be on offer is Panjang island, which has a landing strip for light planes and helicopters.

Separately, the Indonesian Entertainment Business Association (Aspehindo) secretary Adrian Mahulete welcomed City Governor Sutiyoso's idea to establish gambling activities in the Thousand islands.

"Our association officially suggested the plan for gambling activities on Jan. 25, this year to the Governor," Adrian told reporters last Friday.

He agreed that gambling was something that people always had enjoyed and would continue to do so, but by developing a small area that was controlled and regulated, the authorities would be able to prevent much of the illegal gambling that took place all over the city at present.

He claimed that he did not know which company or government agency would manage the casinos on the islands, but admitted that many investors had expressed interest.

"The city administration would receive substantial revenues from legal casinos. It would be useful for city development," Adrian said.

Illegal gambling dens can be found in many places throughout the city, such as along Jl. Gajah Mada and Jl. Hayam Wuruk in West Jakarta. Some of the establishments call themselves "amusement centers".

One large "amusement center" in the Glodok area has a restaurant in front as a cover for the gambling area of its building, and reportedly pays "contributions" of Rp 30 million a day to city officials to look the other way and allow it operate.

Governor Sutiyoso reiterated last Friday his readiness to endorse the legal gambling areas, if general agreement could reached, and it did not violate any existing regulations.

"If people agree that the gambling should be allowed and regulated on the islands, then I would facilitate it," Sutiyoso told reporters.

He justified the gambling by saying that Malaysia, also an Islamic country, faced similar problems with gambling and then decided to legalize it in the Genting Highlands, and it had proved successful.

He said that several city officers and councillors had visited Genting Highlands for "research purposes".

Sutiyoso's idea has been supported by City Council speaker Edy Waluyo and several political parties, including the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, the largest in the city legislature.

Several minor parties, especially two Islamic parties, the Justice Party and the Crescent Star Party, rejected the idea.

Kepulauan Seribu Regent K. Abdul Kadir revealed last Wednesday that a foundation has proposed to manage a casino on the islands, but he declined to mention the name of the foundation.

Kadir said the gamblers would be required to be a card- carrying member of a gambling association, and would also have to pay a deposit of Rp 10 million (US$1,000) each time they went to any casino, and in this way the city would be able to regulate the gamblers.

He claimed the local residents of the regency -- about 17,000 people -- had been informed of the possibility of the casinos, and they had accepted it, although it was not clear how that acceptance was communicated as neither a survey nor a referendum was conducted.