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.