War-Torn Sri Lanka Gambles on Casinos

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka â€”  A new war is brewing far from Sri Lanka’s jungle insurgencies. The battle is over clattering slot machines, whirling roulette wheels and decks of cards.

The government decided in December to allow an expansion of casino gambling, hoping to increase revenues and attract tourists scared away from the tropical island by five years of civil war and political instability.

But the prospect of more competition has not been welcomed by the owners of 16 existing gaming centers, and some are suspected of using violence to protect their shares of the limited market.

Under the expansion, casinos are now allowed in Colombo’s guest-starved luxury hotels. The Ramada Hotel, which is affiliated with the American chain, is constructing a complex that proprietors said will rival those of Las Vegas to lure foreigners.

Another group plans to open a casino at a popular southern beach resort, and licenses are being sought by 20 sports clubs and many small horse-racing facilities.

“There are a lot of surrounding countries with gambling-minded people,� said Johan Bovens, who left his native Holland to run the Ramada Hotel casino. “It will be beneficial to the tourist industry and the country.�

But market experts are skeptical. They said Colombo has only about 300 serious resident gamblers and the industry never will lure large numbers of high rollers from abroad because of laws restricting the conversion of winnings into hard currency.

In addition, they said, the market already is close to saturation, with existing casinos making only small profits. The government has refused to disclose figures for the gaming industry.

“Casinos are coming up like mushrooms and soon nobody will have anything,� complained one casino manager.

In the clearest sign of resistance to newcomers, a bomb in June destroyed a horse-betting parlor the owner was expanding into a casino. Police said they believe rival casino owners were responsible for the blast that injured two security guards.

“Bombs are very common in Sri Lanka,� muttered the angry proprietor. “We are not Jesus Christ. We are not going to turn the other cheek. They (the bombers) will relax and then we will come at them out of the blue.�

Casinos seem out of place in the cash-strapped, war-torn Third World nation, where the annual gross national product is about $400 per capita and the majority of citizens are Buddhists.

Many citizens’ organizations charge that casinos are vice dens, providing havens for prostitutes, drug dealers and smugglers.

“A man is taken out of his senses because of all this money and loses his balance,� said George Ranatunga, president of the All Ceylon Buddhist Congress.

Ranatunga frequently complains about the casinos to the government, which authorized the first gaming house in 1983 under President Junius R. Jayewardene’s liberal economic policies.

But little action has been taken against alleged corruption within an industry that brings the government more than $16 million in annual tax revenues.

“Except for one or two, the casinos are all doing well,� said Tax Commissioner General W. M. P. Weerasingha. “The trend so far has been up.�

Most casino patrons are wealthy locals who play blackjack, roulette, poker and slot machines alongside a smattering of Japanese, Thais, Singaporeans, Indians and Indonesians.

“Gambling will always be big here because there is nothing (else) to do,� said Gamini Perera, a manager at Caesars Palace casino, which has no connection to the Las Vegas hotel-casino. “Every time a card is dealt or the roulette wheel is spun, people get a thrill. . . .�

Business is steady but rarely brisk, and casinos range from opulent to definitely lowbrow. Minimum bets can be as low as 5 rupees (16 cents).

Establishments emulate the more discreet styles of European gaming houses in preference to the neon lights and leggy dancers of Las Vegas and Atlantic City, because, as one dealer said, in a Buddhist nation it is best casinos remain a “public secret.�