'Legal gambling zones won't solve the problem'

'Legal gambling zones won't solve the problem'

Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The following is the third in a series of articles on gambling
in the capital, which continues to thrive despite a legal ban.

The failure by the local police to stamp out illegal gambling has
prompted some to call for legal gambling zones, but clerics and
observers here oppose that proposal, arguing that such zones
would not reduce the number of illegal gambling dens in the
capital.

They also stressed that the only way to cut down on the number
of casinos and illegal lotteries (togel) in the capital was by
enforcing the laws consistently.

The Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) edict commission head
Muarif Amin, said although the council had not issued an official
edict on the issue, he strongly opposed any type of legalization
of gambling.

"Gambling is banned by law and any gambling den should be
closed down accordingly. Legal gambling zones will not diminish
the number of gambling dens, but will only give justification for
people to build more," he told The Jakarta Post.

He said that there was "no way" that the number of gambling
houses would decrease if the city administration built a
regulated gambling zone, claiming that only gamblers with high
incomes would frequent such places.

"Gambling zones are just a way to keep gambling money in
Indonesia, rather than gamblers taking their money to legal
casinos in Malaysia and Australia. It never has been aimed at
reducing gambling here," he deduced.

Gambling takes many forms in the capital and continues to be
backed -- allegedly, since none have been taken to court -- by
well-known figures and other state security personnel.

According to Article 303 of the Criminal Code and Article 2 of
Law No. 7/1974, gambling operators and gamblers can be imprisoned
for up to 10 years or recieve a hefty Rp 25,000 (US$2.63) fine if
found guilty.

Former Jakarta governor Ali Sadikin recently renewed his call
for its legalization.

While Ali was the governor from 1966 to 1977, gambling and
prostitution were legal in certain areas in Jakarta, but the
policy was scrapped when his tenure ended.

The former governor said recently that the city administration
would be able to collect a huge amount of tax revenue from
casinos and gambling dens, but instead, at the moment "protection
money" in lieu of government taxes, was going into the pockets of
a handful of law enforcement officers and not the
administration's coffers.

He further argued that he was able to raise billions of rupiah
from gambling tax revenues to finance many city development
projects during his tenure.

Jakarta, Ali reportedly said, would have have never developed
to the point it has (modern toll roads, malls, international
hotels and skyscrapers) without gambling tax revenues, when it
was legalized.

There is no official government data on how much money
circulates in the gambling business on a nightly basis, but
according to one insider, at least Rp 10 billion per night
changes hands in just one large casino group in Jakarta, which
operates some 20 gambling dens.

While acknowledging that gambling was a potential source of
income, Ida Ruwaida, a sociologist from the University of
Indonesia, said that many other factors should be considered
besides the economic benefits, including different social and
cultural values as well as religious teachings.

"Legalized gambling means forcing many people to accept values
against their own. It will cause unrest, protests and possibly
riots. I think the government must think carefully before
deciding to legalize gambling," she said.

She cited an example of how prostitution continued to flourish
everywhere even after it was legalized and regulated in one zone.

Meanwhile, legal expert Rudy Satrio argued that the
legalization of gambling would merely be further evidence that
Indonesia had given up on its duty to enforce the law.

"We have laws that ban gambling. Just because gambling is
everywhere, and has been for decades, doesn't mean that we should
legalize it. We have to pressure our law enforcers to do their
jobs. They should not be cooperating with the gambling den
operators," he told the Post.