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Hendala shouts against ruchino
JVP leads crowds in highway protest against new gambling club
By Chris Kamalendran
The road was clogged with heavy traffic on Wednesday when the UPFA Parliamentarian and JVP member Siripala Amarasinghe representing the Gampaha district joined hundreds of his supporters to protest against the opening of a new gambling club at the Hendala junction.

Protestors blocked traffic on the Negombo-Colombo main road by placing vehicles across the road and shouted slogans calling on the police to act against the club which was planning to set up a gambling operation called ruchino.

Though the protestors gave the impression the opening of the club was illegal, earlier police inquiries had revealed that the club owner S. Vigneshwararaja had made the required payments to operate the club and the dues for the first quarter amounting to Rs. 125,000 was paid to the Inland Revenue Department on June 25 this year nearly three months after the UPFA government took office.

During the protest led by the JVP member and a Buddhist monk of the area the protestors blamed the former UNF government for granting permission to open the club.

During the run-up to the parliamentary elections the JVP campaigned strongly against former Finance Minister, K.N. Choksy for relaxing the regulations regarding payment of annual fees for the opening of the new club.

The JVP parliamentarian believes he could set a new trend by protesting against the opening of such gambling clubs and stop the setting up of new clubs whether they be casinos or ruchinos.

"We believe there are other ways of earning money, other than collecting taxes from an illegal business", Mr. Amarasinghe said. Wattala Chief Inspector, S.A. Suraweera told The Sunday Times that Parliamentarian Amarasinghe turned abusive when the Inspector attempted to explain to the MP that with regard to the closing down of the club the matter needs to be taken up with the government since the required payments have been made to the Inland Revenue Department.

With the traffic situation becoming worse every minute, Inspector Suraweera said he was compelled to disperse the protestors at about 4.30 p.m. and forcibly remove the two vehicles which were placed across the road.

The Inspector said the protest, was also an attempt to cause inconvenience to the public. Contrary to the claims by the MP that a relative of a UNP organiser was involved in running the club it had been revealed that it was a former PA MPs relative living in the area who was involved in the matter.

Mr. Vigneshwararaja said that as far as he was concerned he was not acting in an illegal manner as he had obtained a receipt for the payments made according to the Betting and Gaming Act.

"The JVP MP has come to the Hendala area to stage a protest, but ironically there were other casinos opened in Kiribathgoda area very recently and these are much closer to the electorate he represents, but still has not staged any protest regarding them", he said.

However these were not the only clubs which had been opened with the blessings of the UPFA. A week prior to the parliamentary elections a casino which failed to get approval during the UNF government situated close to a leading boys' school in Kollupitiya began operations which despite appeals from the Old Boys' Association of the leading Colombo school, no action was taken to prevent its opening.

Former Prime Minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe had earlier refused a request for the opening of the casino. Eventually the casino was opened even without a proper licence just before the elections and neither did the Police which came under the purview of the President at the time, take any action to raid the club.

Meanwhile the JVP member believes he could convince the government not to accept payments to operate such clubs and the issue has also renewed the debate whether it was ethical to accept a levy from an illegal business, though some earlier court rulings have supported the move.

JVP to close doors of new casinos
The JVP is reported to start a campaign to compel the government to impose a ban on new casinos or gambling centres coming up despite these centres bringing in a large revenue to the Treasury, a JVP Parliamentarian who is leading the protest campaign said.

The Gampaha district parliamentarian Siripala Amarasinghe who organised the protest campaign at Hendala in Wattala against the opening of a gambling club on Wednesday told The Sunday Times the JVP would soon submit to government a proposal regarding the banning of new casinos and gambling clubs.

The Hendala protest came despite the club owner having paid Rs. 125,000 last month, as charges due for the first quarter. The casinos operate without any licence as such but on a payment of an annual fee of Rs. one million.

Meanwhile the Inland Revenue Department sources said the IRD has received more applications seeking permits for the opening of new casinos and gambling clubs. "Our party will discuss the matter with the government and take steps to stop the issuing of new licences to open casinos or clubs in future.

But we are unable to do anything about casinos or clubs that are operating already", the MP explained. The MP said that irrespective of the revenue they bring in the JVP hopes to go ahead with the decision.

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