The casinos in Batam has closed down for the past few months, since January 2005. It is probably due to enforcement action taken by the central government in Jakarta. It seemed that the casinos were operating illegally.
With the closure of the casino, several thousand workers in Batam have lost their jobs. Batam was relatively quiet. Few people used the ferries, or visited the island.
The hotel manager in Batam told me that he expects the casino to re-open later in the year, after the Batam and central government has sorted out their jurisdication.
Indeed, your blog on casino in batam has highlighted the economic contribution and their vast influence.
ReplyDeleteLook at the customer base of batam casino. It may be mainly made up of ordinary singaporean, singapore being the nearest and richer neighbour.
Now, look at our singapore soon to be built casino. Certainly, we are not going have the same ordinary singaporean as its main customer base.
Our casino may draw high value customer from nearby countries, malaysia, thai and indo. their numbers are small, though profit from them may be the largest. With their number, how do you think they could support such a large number of supporting industries' job, as in the batam case.
I agree with you.
ReplyDeleteOur integrated resort should bring in tourists from Asia. They will help to increase tourism in Singapore and benefit other sectors of the economy.