Two hundred and fifty people have been banned from entering Macau casinos, the Director of the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ) Paulo Martins Chan said yesterday, on the sidelines of the opening ceremony of the MGS Entertainment Show.
“I do not have official statistics, but Macau residents are not in the majority,” said Chan.
At the end of last year, DICJ once again implemented measures to ban specific people from entering casinos.
“They [the banned people] engaged in erroneous behaviors, and practiced semi-public crimes. A few victims did not report them, which leaves nothing to do in terms of criminal procedures. These [misbehaving people] repeatedly do such things as stealing small casino chips, which is disruptive to the casinos’ orders [function],” said Chan, adding that these are the main reasons why DICJ re-initiated the practice of banning miscreants.
The DICJ director also noted that the bureau is trying to conclude a report on the consultation of laws regarding requirements for entry to casinos and for working in the gaming sector.
“We are still sorting out the opinions; we will write a report later. […] We hope to have a report before the end of this year,” announced Chan.
When speaking about this year’s casino gross gaming revenue (GGR) increase, as well as that of next year, Chan said “the increase of the GGR is not our most fundamental job. We mostly supervise. But we hope that we can provide the best commercial environment, which can lead tourists to feel secure, and the world to be confident [in us],” said Chan.
DICJ, together with the gaming operators’ executives, agreed on establishing an emergency mechanism to deal with risks and crises such as typhoons.
According to Chan, the mechanism has been proved successful following its implementation after the deadly typhoon Hato hit the city.
“Regarding security, we [DICJ and casino executives] had several meetings. DICJ ordered them to purchase some equipment to be [put] in place consistently, and to be installed soon,” explained Chan, adding that the equipment consists mainly of “communication facilities and human resources.”
The DICJ head also informed that the government is preparing an anti-terrorism drill. However, since the drill will be organized through the police force, Chan did not disclose more information regarding it.
In relation to gaming table applications, Chan reaffirmed “we reiterate that any application for gaming tables must be submitted by the six gaming operators. Until now, no gaming operator has submitted an application,” said Chan.
When asked if DICJ will enhance supervision over junket promoters, Chan responded: “actually, we have been paying much attention to the supervision of junket promoters for the past two years, aside from several regulations […]. Overall, we hope the entire industry can have a healthy development.”
MGS opens 3-day exhibition and summit
The 2017 MGS Entertainment Show and Summit kicked off yesterday morning with its opening ceremony at The Venetian Macao. MGS organizer Jay Chun, Chairman of the Macau Gaming Equipment Manufacturers Association (MGEMA), delivering the welcoming speech to the more than 300 guests in attendance “The theme of this year’s show is the Smart City, and we have many smart-city technologies displayed on the show floor – robotics, video surveillance, cloud computing, and mobile software applications. It is our goal to help pave the way for entrepreneurs who are coming up with innovative ideas that will change entertainment and everyday life for all of us,” Jay Chun said.
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