Editorial-October 15, 2013,
The press has recently carried pictures of government politicians fawning over Australian Casino tycoon, James Packer, who was here last week. They went out of their way to make him feel important for obvious reasons.
Pictures showed a happy Packer flashing a thousand watt smile. However, UNP MP Dr. Harsha de Silva has claimed that the Opposition was able to make him return empty-handed by blocking a government move to rush legislation through Parliament to grant his casino to be set up here a tax holiday.
The government’s wisdom of pampering the likes of Packer with various concessions as part of a strategy to build what its critics call a gambling economy stands questioned; and all the more so because the ordinary people are burdened with indirect taxes which have caused the prices of essentials to go into the stratosphere. It is they and local industrialists who deserve tax relief more than anyone else. Such incentives should be utilised to attract investment, both local and foreign, to develop the much-neglected manufacturing sector which should be the bedrock of the national economy. Not even the bitterest critics of the government will object to tax concessions given to ventures such as industries or tourist hotels as the country gains from them in the long run.
Casino kingpins are birds of passage; their much-touted mixed-development projects are only facades. They vanish after making enough money if they feel more could be made elsewhere. When they realise their time is up, they will engage in kerb crawling for willing governments in other developing countries. This is the name of the game.
The need for setting up red-light economic zones, as it were, to lure gambling magnates and others of questionable reputation arises when cash-strapped governments get stuck in reality distortion fields of their own making, borrowing as they do heavily to achieve unrealistic development goals. The late President J. R. Jayewardene, in a bid to give the economy a turbo boost, asked us to be ready to contend with robber barons, and successive governments have been rolling out the red carpet for such shady characters with deep pockets ever since. If wasteful government expenditure is curtailed drastically and available resources are frugally managed while an investor friendly environment is created with negative factors such as corruption and bureaucratic red tape eliminated, a country’s dependence on casinos etc to prop up its economy could be reduced to a great extent.
Dr. de Silva has warned that a future UNP government will tax all casinos heavily. We really look forward to that day! However, conventional wisdom has it that promises are like babies—very easy to make but hellishly difficult to deliver. There is no reason why anyone should disagree with Dr. de Silva on the need to deny casinos tax holidays, but it is hoped that the UNP, if and when it forms a government, will not opt for pandering to the whims and fancies of wealthy foreigners including casino magnates who throw dollars and pounds around.
While the SLFP was in the political wilderness it campaigned hard against robber barons. Its frontliners condemned Joe Sim, described as a ‘casino king’, who came here during President Ranasinghe Premadasa’s tenure and made enough money, but had to leave after falling from grace. Today, we have them dancing attendance on Packer!
As we pointed out in these columns last July, Joe Sim was brought here again in 2003 by the UNP-led UNF government. Addressing the media in Colombo on April 26, 2003, he said he had been invited by the UNF government to help Sri Lanka promote tourism and investment. He unveiled a plan to build a mega entertainment complex in Sri Lanka a la Disneyland. So much for politicians and their antipathy towards casino tycoons!
