SINGAPORE : Lawyers said tweaks to the Casino Control Act may be needed to provide for "special circumstances", such as if an emergency breaks out.
This follows an incident when 15 diners were forced to walk
through the casino because they found that two lifts - their only exits -
were out of order.
The group refused to pay the $100 casino levy.
The incident happened on May 4. The diners had patronised a Chinese
restaurant, Imperial Treasure, at Marina Bay Sands (MBS).
Responding to MediaCorp, the Casino Regulatory Authority (CRA) said it
is "aware of this incident and is currently looking into the matter".
It is unclear how many in the group are Singaporeans and permanent
residents. But MediaCorp understands none of them have been prosecuted
yet.
The incident raises questions about whether the law provides for
exemptions from entry levies.
One lawyer said the incident may have highlighted a technical breach of
the law but the Attorney General's Chambers still has the discretion to
decide whether to charge the individuals or penalise Marina Bay Sands.
By failing to collect the entry levies, Marina Bay Sands would also have
flouted Section 116 of the Act - which makes them liable to
disciplinary action.
This may come in the form of one or more of the following - cancellation
or suspension of a casino license; receiving a letter of censure; the
variation of the terms of a casino license; or being fined not more than
$1 million.
Sunil Sudheesan from law firm KhattarWong said: "Frankly, I do not think
that CRA would take any action in this case."
He added that tweaks to the existing laws may be needed to provide for
"special circumstances", such as fires.
- CNA /ls
I hope that lift can break down more often.
Event organisers sue MBS
THE organisers of a prestigious law event held at Marina Bay Sands (MBS) have responded to the integrated resort's (IR) suit by launching a counter-claim of their own.
A group representing the Inter-Pacific Bar Association (IPBA) has said that a conference staged at MBS from May 2-5 was a 'complete disaster', and is claiming unspecified damages.
In its counter-claim, filed with the High Court on Tuesday, the group said MBS had promised many things in an effort to convince it to hold its annual conference there, and it had agreed to do so based on this.
Instead, many things went wrong during the conference - including instances of water leakage into hotel rooms of some delegates, intermittent power failure, and incidents where some guests were locked in their rooms - causing the group's reputation to suffer.
The group, called IPBA 2010 and comprising several prominent lawyers, including Mrs Lee Suet Fern and Senior Counsel Lok Vi Ming, is also seeking aggravated damages.
It claims MBS prevented it from backing out of a deal to hold its conference there despite the resort's lack of readiness.
-- ST