Wakayama hit for lack of transparency on IR bid

Sunday 4th of March 2018

The Wakayama Network to Consider the Casino Problem, a local anti-casino organization formed last November, has lashed out at what it regards as a lack of transparency as the prefectural government moves forward with its IR licensing bid.

Masayoshi Hatanaka, a citizen activist and former gubernatorial candidate who serves as the secretary-general of the new organization, officially requested last December that the prefectural government make available to the public several reports prepared by the auditing advisory firm Deloitte Tohmatsu regarding the economic viability of the plan to establish an IR at the Marina City location. However, when the government responded in late February, the requested documents were almost entirely blacked out.

Hatanaka’s request for the documents and the prefectural government’s essentially negative response was covered by a local newspaper, Kii Minpo, in an article published this weekend.

On his Facebook page, Hatanaka gave his own response as follows: “It’s a huge question for the people of this prefecture whether or not Marina City becomes a casino town. When we have Governor Nisaka so forcefully advocating for a casino, is it truly proper he should also be hiding documents from the public in such a personally convenient manner?”

The prefectural government has not yet made any public statements about the criticism regarding the Deloitte Tohmatsu documents.

Governor Yoshinobu Nisaka faces reelection this coming December, recently confirming that he will be seeking a fourth term in office.

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