SINGAPORE: Singapore on Friday announced that as a result of last month's move to add 15,000 persons to a list of those barred from entering the city-state's two casinos, and added that it would amend the Casino Control Act, the government said in a statement. Among the proposals are amendments that would restrict the number of visits to the two gaming locations in the country, Channel NewsAsia said in its report. According to government officials, families and individuals can apply for a “visit limit” under the amendment. It comes as the government looks to change its 6-year old casino law in order to combat “criminal activities, strengthen social safeguards and improve tax administration,” according to the statement on the Ministry of Home Affair's website. “With the benefit of practical experience in regulating and managing the casinos over the past two years, a review of the casino regulatory regime and the Casino Control Act is therefore timely," according to the statement. The new bans came into affect on July 1 and include residents who receive financial aid from the government, the ministry of community development, youth and sports said in a statement last month. Another 3,000 public-housing residents will also be barred from entering the casinos as they are recipients of subsidized rentals. “We want to protect the financially vulnerable who can ill afford casino gambling," acting Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports Chan Chun Sing said in the statement, citing a 2011 official survey that showed an increasing proportion of low-income gamblers in Singapore playing with large sums. These new casino exclusions add to the 28,000 people already barred on government orders from Singapore's casinos—Genting Singapore PLC's Resorts World Sentosa and Las Vegas Sands Corp.'s Marina Bay Sands.
