Opposition grows against plan to localize, legalize gambling
Opposition grows against plan to localize, legalize gambling
Annastashya Emmanuelle and Nana Rukmana, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta/Cirebon
The Jakarta administration's plan to localize gambling activities
on the Seribu Islands, north of Jakarta, has drawn strong
opposition from the country's national and religious leaders.
Minister of Religious Affairs Said Agil Husein Al Munawwar
said on Saturday that he opposed any form of gambling and the
planned establishment of casinos in the Seribu Islands.
"Such ideas should be considered thoroughly. Do not be in a
hurry," Said Agil said at the Buntet Muslim Boarding School in
Cirebon, West Java, on Saturday.
The minister also called for strict law enforcement against
gambling in Indonesia.
"Law enforcement against gambling has failed to live up to
expectations," he said.
Earlier on Friday, Vice President Hamzah Haz voiced a veiled
objection to the move, urging the public at large to engage in
more fruitful causes rather than focusing on mundane projects
such as gambling.
"It's not appropriate to focus ourselves on gambling at a time
when the country is still struggling to emerge from the current
economic crisis," Hamzah said.
"It would be better to use our money for something more
productive such as prioritizing the real sector," he added.
Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso expressed his readiness on Thursday
to build the infrastructure needed for casinos in the Seribu
Islands, arguing that gambling could not be eradicated completely
and, therefore, should be accommodated.
According to Sutiyoso, the regent of the Seribu Islands, K.
Abdul Kadir, had informed him that the residents of the Seribu
Islands would welcome the presence of casinos in their area.
He also expressed confidence that the City Council would
endorse the plan.
On Friday, however, the governor toned down his earlier
statement, saying that no decision had been made so far.
"I didn't say that I had approved (the plan). As a governor, I
was merely facilitating the recommendation of the City Council,"
he was quoted by Antara as saying.
The Muhammadiyah Muslim organization's secretary-general Din
Syamsuddin said that his organization would not tolerate the
Jakarta administration's plan to localize gambling on the Seribu
Islands.
"We reject all plans to localize gambling as it is very much
against Islam," Din was quoted by Antara as saying on Saturday.
He also urged the Jakarta administration to drop the plan and
no longer entertain ideas such as localizing gambling, which
would never resolve any problems but only create new problems.
"Under (Islamic) law, gambling is still haram (forbidden) even
if the government localizes it in the Seribu Islands," Muslim
scholar Bachtiar Effendi was quoted by Antara as saying on
Saturday.
Bachtiar, who is also the chairman of the academic advisory
board of the Jakarta Syarif Hidayatullah State Institute of
Islamic Studies postgraduate studies department, admitted that
the gambling issue posed a dilemma for the Jakarta
administration.
On one hand, the government wanted to augment tax income from
gambling, but on the other hand, gambling could cause moral
decadence.
"I think localization of gambling as proposed by the Jakarta
administration would not resolve the problem. In fact, the
government should ban gambling completely," Bachtiar said.
Two Muslim-based political parties -- the Justice Party (PK)
and the Crescent Star Party (PBB), have openly rejected the idea.
Hamzah, however, did not reject the proposal out of hand,
saying that it would be up to the City Council to decide.
But, he underlined here on Friday the importance of conducting
a thorough assessment of the impact of opening a casino in
Jakarta's Seribu Islands regency.
He also ordered officials of the Ministry of Religious
Affairs, the Ministry of Social Affairs and the Office of the
Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare to carry out the
assessment.
Such a thorough assessment was needed so as to ensure that
"the plan will not cause socio-political problems among the
people," he asserted.
The idea to open casinos in the Seribu Islands is an old dream
of Sutiyoso's, who first floated the idea in 2001 following the
mushrooming of illegal gambling dens in the city.
Localizing gambling activities would be expected to help
increase the city's revenue since the current illegal gambling
dens are believed to pay protection money to officials and
security personnel in return for being left alone to operate
unhindered.