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Government
Reviews Casino Opening Rules
Government
Reviews Casino Opening Rules
The Costa Rican government has suspended the
implementation of new regulations to limit
casino opening hours to just 12 hours per
day pending a full review of the policy’s
wider economic implications currently being
undertaken by Costa Rica’s ministry of work.
Confirmation that the Costa Rican government
will allow casinos to remain open on a
24-hour basis until at least May 1
represents a victory for the lobbying
efforts of Costa Rica’s casino operators
since a decree issued in June of last year
signaled the government’s intention to
dramatically curb casino opening hours in
the Central American country.
That June decree was to formally limit
casino opening hours to between 6pm at night
and 6am as of December 2008, but was
predictably met with stiff resistance from
local casino operators.
Operators grouped together in the Costa
Rican Casino Association (Asociación
Costaricense de Casinos) and met with the
government in the aftermath of the decree’s
enactment to argue that up to a third of the
6,000 Costa Ricans currently employed in the
sector could lose their jobs were the
opening restrictions to take effect as
planned. In July, the association’s
president Rafael Vargas told local media
that operators had decided not to shed the
jobs immediately as they “had faith” they
would reach an understanding with the
government’s tourism and work ministries.
The Costa Rican government agreed to suspend
implementation of the restrictions one week
before they were due to take effect on
December 27 of last year. An executive
decree signed by President Oscar Arias
acknowledged that the 6pm-6am limit could
directly lead to around 2,000 job losses in
the “labour intensive” casino sector, with
“indirect consequences for thousands of
Costa Rican families”.
The decree states: “Faced with this
problematic situation and the risk of
provoking a larger level of unemployment in
the tourism sector, the Costa Rican Casino
Association asked the Government to provide
an evaluation of what effects the entry into
force of the new regulation’s provisions on
the permitted opening times of [casino]
venues would have in order to reduce future
negative impact on employment rates.
“The [Government] is aware of the current
threats to productive sectors [of the
economy] and services [industries], and
affirms this compromise to adopt the
necessary, legitimate measures to protect
the integrity and security of Costa Rican
workers and to guarantee their rights to
obtain dignified, paid employment.”
The decree authorizes casinos to remain open
round-the-clock until May 1, 2009, pending
completion of a study to be conducted by the
ministry of work. That study should assess
the full impact casino opening restrictions
would have on the Costa Rican economy and
suggest an alternative proposal as
appropriate, the decree says.
According to comments made to the local
press by the casino association’s Vargas,
operators are willing to accept some
mandatory restrictions on opening hours but
they are hoping to see last June’s decree
amended to permit them to open for at least
16 hours per day.
Further casino regulations passed last June
remain unaffected by last December’s decree,
however. Among other measures imposing
limits on slot machine and table numbers,
the legislation from last year ensures that
casinos can only be built in minimum
three-star, 60-room hotels. |
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