Okinawa abandons plan to attract casinos

The prefectural government in Okinawa, Japan won’t seek to attract integrated resorts if the country passes a law legalizing casinos, due to opposition from new Governor Takeshi Onaga who took office in December, the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper reported.

Okinawa had been seen as a likely regional destination, especially given that it will have large areas of available land once U.S. military bases are abandoned.

The previous administration had been researching a potential casino project for the past eight years, but the government will not now allocate funds in its fiscal 2015 budget, the newspaper said.

The government had estimated integrated resorts in the suburbs would yield economic benefits worth about ¥219 billion ($1.8 billion) and create jobs for about 54,000.

The timing of the potential passage of the bill setting out the legal framework for casinos in Japan is now unclear after political scandals helped to derail the legislation in the special Fall session of the parliament.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was forced to call snap elections after the resignation of two senior cabinet members amid unrelated scandals. Abe won in the polls, but there is currently no timetable for the bill to be re-tabled.

 

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