Sri Lanka casino bill not this year

The site for the Crown casino resort in Columbo

James Packer’s $400 million planned casino resort in Colombo Sri Lanka faces further delays before Crown can start construction. Opposition leaders from outside the government say that Mr Packer and his company are receiving favourable concessions which are not being offered to local businesses.

Buddhist leaders also said the casino could be detrimental to the culture of Sri Lanka, a predominant Buddhist country where gambling is not accepted morally, despite the on-again, off-again presence of casinos dating back to the 1990s.

It was expected that the gambling bill to allow for the construction of casinos would be pushed through before the end of 2013, however this seems more unlikely with the country’s investment and promotion minister, Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena, saying on Tuesday the deal “might not” be approved by the end of the year.

“I haven’t prepared the cabinet paper yet,” Abeywardena told reporters in Colombo. “These days you can’t do it because we are busy with the budget. There is no hurry. These are long-term projects and we are aiming to start by 2015-2016. You have time.”

Crowns resort-casino complex is planned for a two-acre plot in the heart of the Colombo commercial hub. It has already been delayed once after the government asked Lake Leisure Holdings, the joint venture between Crown Ltd and its local partner, Rank Entertainment Holdings, to change its construction plans.
Officials with the local partner downplayed the latest delay.

“Possibly it will go through once the parliament starts in the first week of January, so one month does not make any difference,” Ravi Wijeratne, the owner of Rank Holdings, told Reuters.

A Crown spokesman said the news wasn’t a shock to the company.

“The delay is not unexpected given the Sri Lankan Parliament has been dealing with its recent budget and subsequent debate. Discussion between Crown and the Sri Lankan Government continue.”