James Packer's Casino Deal in Sri Lanka Falls Through

9 years ago
James Packer's Casino Deal in Sri Lanka Falls Through
21:48
02 Feb

JamesPacker, Australian billionaire, is no longer welcome in Sri Lanka after he abandoned the Crown Resorts project (including casino) worth $350m because the new government decided to withdraw the tax concessions given by the former president Mahinda Rajapaksa.

The Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe was very critical of the former government, claiming that the president forced people to leave their homes in order to clear the land for the people like James Packer. The new government has cancelled three casino licenses and expressed his feelings that the new government don’t want the economy to rely on the casino industry.

Packer has planned luxury casino project in the center of Colombo which was approved last year but he hasn't started with the construction yet, and as the things stand right now, he never will. When Packer decided to abandon the project due to the tax concessions changes Prime Minister Ranil accepted his decision but made very harsh comments.

Ranil still wanted the resort but without gambling involved which was inadequate for Packer. Ranil made a few comments claiming that Packer doesn’t have to come anymore, adding that Sri Lanka only needs good investors and making it quite clear that he was no longer welcome.

The opprobrium directed at Packer, more than a personal attack, is a reflection of the deep dissatisfaction within the Sri Lankan polity and people, a belief that for too long the country’s promise had been pillaged at the expense of the many, to the benefit of the few www.theguardian.com;

Sri Lanka’s new president Maithripala Sirisena was elected due to his promises of governmental reform and he mentioned jail terms for corrupted government officials and revealed his 100-day program against corruption in general. It is hard to say whether he will succeed in his plans or not but Packer’s casino deal is definitely over.

Although the Packer’s casino deal fell through, another plan for a casino resort, worth $650m, survived but just because the John Keells Holdings decided to continue with their resort plans without a casino. When it comes to the the local casinos already operating, the governmental changes will also affect their business because they will have to pay a fee of one billion rupees until mid April if they want to stay open.

Without Mahinda Rajapaksa, James Packer has no chance to build a casino in the center of Colombo, even though the planned resort would have certainly been an attraction.


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Ines is a Journalism student with many interests, poker being one of these. Her passion to learn and develop her horizons make her a valuable contributor to the site's content.Read more

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