Casinos – The Unmaking Of UNP

By Muhammed Fazl -February 5, 2015 

Muhammed Fazl

“The best throw of the dice is to throw them away” – English Proverb

Though Mahinda Rajapaksa (MR) regime was defeated by a coalition of different political parties, the United National Party (UNP) seems to be in the driving seat for now. And for major changes to take effect, it would be only fair to give them a reasonable time frame. But when detrimental-to-society economic policies of the previous regime are being camouflaged and re-presented, I find myself being forced to write again interrupting my self-imposed hiatus.

Casinos and betting on horses, two deadly sins that had been a curse to thousands of my countrymen for decades, has been given approval to operate once again by the very same regime that campaigned on the promise of eradicating the ‘casino culture/economy’.

The moneyed and the powerful, strange bedfellows they make. It is no secret that Minister of Housing Mr.Sajith Premadasa’s friendship with the owner of Stardust/Marina Casinos Mr. Ravi Wijeratne dates back to the eighties. Knowing well the ‘permanent interests’ philosophy of Sir Winston Churchill, as much as close acolytes of MR they are, Mr. Wijeratne and Mr. Dhammika Perera of Ballagio/Ballys fame maintained a strong bond simultaneously with Mr. Premadasa and other top UNPers respectively. Having supported both sides during the recently concluded Presidential elections, it is now obvious that both Mr. Dhammika Perera’s and Ravi Wijeratne’s gaming empires would remain intact and unscathed, even from firebrand socialists and ‘holier-than-thou’ critics such as Mr. Patali Champika Ranwaka, Rev. Athureliya Rathana Thero of Hela Urumaya and Mr. Anura Kumara Dissanayake of JVP. While the stoic silence of Mr. Ranil Wickremesinghe(RW) aligned prominent Muslim politicians and Buddhist monks seems to be adding insult to injury, serious questions may be raised should they decide to play a political/religious role in their respective communities in the future.

Casinos, state sponsored lotteries & betting on horses

Casinos – Introduced by the UNP government of Late J.R. Jayewardene and closed down by the Late R. Premadasa in the early nineties, only for it to be re-opened again by the Late D.B. Wijetunge in 1993, along came prostitution (local and foreign), alcoholism, drug addiction, crimes, immorality, financial ruin etc.

Ravi Wijeratne

Lotteries – State sponsored and in essence, a poor man’s method of indulgence in gambling with only a handful out of millions striking it big.

Betting on horses & sporting events – I always wondered why this business of betting that are monopolized by Mr. Thilanga Sumathipala of Sporting Star fame and by Mr. Lakshman Balasuriya of Sporting Times never caught the attention of no Finance Minister from no government in power in the last 3 decades when imposing taxes on gambling. With Yaha Palanayaat play, I was hoping that at least the new Minister of Finance Mr. Ravi Karunanayake would be intelligent enough to understand that even betting on horse races and sporting events is considered gambling.

Legislations & questions to Minister of Finance as per http://www.ird.gov.lk/bgl.html,

To begin with, NO CASINO LICENSE is in existence nor was one ever issued. And whatever legislation there is, it need not be surprising to see that instead of amending laws for the economy and society to benefit, the casino mafia has been the source of influence in drafting legislation which favored them from every government in power. At least now, I sincerely hope the following will get the attention of our new Minister of Finance Mr. Ravi Karunanayake,Read More