Illegal gambling business generates huge money
Ahmad Junaidi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The University of Indonesia's Institute for the Study of Social Institutions said on Monday there were 13 large illegal gambling dens currently operating in the city, with a daily turnover of between Rp 2 billion (US$200,000) and Rp 10 billion each.
These illegal gambling dens are able to operate with the help of corrupt military and police personnel, and city administration officials, according to the institute.
A large gambling den employing between 1,000 and 1,500 people spends Rp 150 million a day in "protection fees", according to the institute's research and training coordinator, Rizal Hikmat.
According to the institute, 12 of the 13 illegal gambling dens are located in West Jakarta -- some operating in restaurants, shopping centers and hotels, with the majority of their patrons coming from the middle and upper classes.
The other gambling operation is located in the recently closed Kalijodo red-light district on the border between West and Central Jakarta.
The institute's research, conducted in cooperation with the city administration between July and December last year, also found that there were 30 illegal lottery operators in the city's five mayoralties, with a total turnover of Rp 48 billion a week. The lotteries are drawn twice a week.
Rizal said some 1.2 million "ordinary" people regularly took part in the illegal lotteries.
"We found many housewives complaining that the money for daily necessities, food and to pay their children's school fees was used by their husbands to buy lottery tickets," he said.
He said a driver whose daily income averaged Rp 50,000 might spend Rp 20,000 of this amount on the lottery.
Rizal suggested the administration crack down on these illegal lottery operations because of their social impact.
But he recommended the city legalize the large gambling dens and proceed with its plan to open casinos in the Thousand Islands.
"Localizing the gambling could improve the local economy and infrastructure, such as sea transportation to the islands," said Rizal, who is also a lecturer in the university's sociology department.
The city's plan to open casinos in the islands has been met with a mixed reaction.
Rizal claimed the institute spoke with leaders of the country's two largest Muslim organizations, the Nahdlatul Ulama and the Muhamadiyah, who individually agreed with the idea of localizing gambling.
But he believes the plan will be opposed by security officers, who would stand to lose huge amounts of protection money paid to them by illegal gambling operations.
He also predicted the plan to localize gambling would be rejected by certain hard-line groups who have connections with security officers, mainly police and military personnel.
Separately, the secretary of the Indonesian Entertainment Business Association, Adrian Mahulete, estimated that there were between 35 and 50 illegal gambling dens currently operating in the city with a total daily turnover of Rp 200 billion.
"Ten of these are operated under the names of entertainment centers under our association. However, we are not able to punish them because they conduct their activities secretly," he said.