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Local Indonesian Leaders Upset Over Gambling24 March 2003INDONESIA – As reported by the Jakarta Post: "Despite strong protests, gambling in Batam has continued to grow, but what has many religious and community leaders upset is that the owners are are breaking the law right under the noses of local security authorities. "The local administration as well as the central government have strict laws which ban gambling in all its forms, but there are at least five large gambling dens on the island, and almost all the hotels on the island have provided special areas for gambling to visitors, mostly from Malaysia and Singapore. "…The local police claimed that they did not have any information on gambling at the hotels and restaurants and they had never been asked by the local administration to crack down on gambling. "…Batam Mayor Nyat Kadir has recently issued a ban for hotels and restaurants to provide gambling facilities on the island, after a serious warning from the central government. "…Separately, a number of nongovernmental organizations called on the central government and the National Police to step in and halt the gambling activities which were backed up by strong, even dangerous, organized clans from Jakarta. "Yudi Kurnain, coordinator of the National Youth Front (BOM Warna), said the local police in Batam would not be able to close down the gambling dens because each had powerful backing from Jakarta. "…The chairman of the local chapter of the Indonesian Ulemas Council (MUI), Assyari Abbas, concurred and said everybody living on the island knew about the hotels and other places that provided gambling facilities, but the police have closed their eyes into it…" |