A plenary session of the Legislative Assembly (AL) passed the outline of a government-initiated bill proposing a ban on off-duty gaming staff entering local casinos.
Secretary for Economy and Finance Lionel Leong Vai Tac introduced the outline of the bill, which aims to reduce the risk of gaming staff becoming addicted to gambling, during a plenary session in the legislature’s hemicycle Thursday.
The government launched a one-month public consultation on the matter in September last year.
The government proposes amendments to Law 10/2012 for the proposed ban on off-duty gaming staff entering local casinos, according to Leong.
Currently, the city’s six gaming operators ban their off-duty employees from gambling in their own casinos, which means that off-duty staff can gamble in casinos not run by their employers, the government has previously noted.
The current version of Law 10/2012 stipulates that employees are not allowed to gamble in the casinos run by their employer.
The law, which took effect in late 2012, lists the people who are banned from entering local casinos, including those under the age of 21 and public servants – except for the first three days of the Chinese New Year. Offenders face a fine of between 1,000 and 10,000 patacas, according to the current version of the law.
According to Leong, the bill suggests that the proposed ban covers those such as dealers, table game supervisors, pit managers, casino cashiers and casino hosts. The bill proposes an exemption to the proposed ban – gaming staff are allowed to gamble in local casinos on the first three days of the Chinese New Year.
In addition, the proposed amendments also include easier procedures for the government’s inspectors to fine those under the age of 21 who enter local casinos, according to Leong.
The bill will be discussed in detail by one of the standing committees of the legislature before its final article-by-article vote by a plenum of the legislature in due course.
