James Debono After two years in which gaming shops mushroomed all over the island thanks to the absence of licensing rules, the Lotteries and Gaming Authority (LGA) is advising MEPA to refuse applications for new shops.
Most of the island’s gaming halls were shut down in one fell swoop this year amid public outcry on their proliferation. The LGA’s veto on new gaming halls comes in the wake of a crackdown on establishment which were operating in a legal vacuum because the sector was not regulated.
The LGA is now advising MEPA to refuse applications for the change-of-use of shops and bars into gaming halls, because these are deemed to constitute “bad neighbourliness.”
At least 31 such applications submitted in 2009 have been recommended for a refusal by case officers, following the LGA’s recommendation, which is now being consulted on all pending applications.
Significantly, the LGA is citing the BEN1 policy from the Structure Plan – the planning guide for development applications – which prohibits proposals likely to have a deleterious impact on residential areas because of any “characteristics which would constitute bad neighbourliness”.
Another reason cited by the LGA is that these applicants have not been granted any concession by the government and because the premises are too small to make them eligible for a licence to operate as a bingo hall.
The other reason cited is that “the use, operation and hosting of other gaming devices are currently not being licensed.”
In the past two years, MEPA was inundated with applications for gaming shops and between January 2008 and May 2009, 18 gaming halls were approved, and only six were refused.
But amid growing concern on the proliferation of gaming shops, MEPA had a change of heart. In April the MEPA board approved a memorandum of understanding with the LGA on clear guidelines to regulate the processing of such applications.
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