Asian Economic News: No 2nd casino in Malaysia, Mahathir says

KUALA LUMPUR, May 20 Kyodo

Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said Tuesday the government will not license any more casinos.

Still, the announcement is unlikely to help quell the uproar from conservative Muslim groups upset over a gaming center newly set up by a close business ally of Mahathir.

Mahathir denied that the gaming license issued to the Berjaya Group, which is owned by ethnic Chinese tycoon Vincent Tan, is a license to operate a casino.

''I don't know who refers to it as a casino. Actually, we granted a license for one-arm bandit to help them finance the club,'' he told reporters. ''We don't (issue) any more casino licenses.''

The company announced last month it has been given a gaming license to operate 250 slot machines in its French-theme hill resort in Bukit Tinggi, about 60 kilometers north of Kuala Lumpur.

The gaming center is touted to be the second biggest after the country's only casino in Genting Highland, just minutes from Bukit Tinggi. Both are located in Pahang State.

But the conservative Pan Islamic Party (PAS), the country's largest opposition party, charges that whether it is called a gaming center or a casino, the government is ''out to promote the sin of gambling'' even though the terms for the license clearly specify only foreigners and non-Muslims are allowed to enter the premise.

PAS spiritual leader Nik Aziz Nik Mat recently castigated the government, saying, ''It is unbelievable that a country that has been declared by its top leader as an Islamic country is allowing gambling centers.''

With elections to be held by next year, PAS has been quick to seize on the issue. A front-page splash in a recent edition of their popular party newspaper Harakah showed a picture of the resort with the headline ''Pahang, a casino state.''

PAS has made no bones of its intention to wrest control of the state.

It now forms the government in two of the country's 14 states and has been steadily gaining in Pahang.

Trying to justify the government move, Mahathir said the license was given with the understanding only club members are allowed access to the gaming machines, not the public.

''It is for club use, not for public use...we gave a license to the club, but I think they may have abused the license and we have ordered this to be stopped,'' he said.

Since its opening in July 2000, the Bukit Tinggi Resort has attracted almost a million visitors, but this is still far behind the estimated 15 million visitors that went to Genting last year.