Batam – Local religious and community leaders are angry with the authorities for turning a blind eye to the thriving gambling dens on the island which cater to a largely Malaysian and Singaporean clientele.
They say that the local administration as well as the central government have strict laws which ban gambling in all its forms, but there are at least five large gambling dens on Batam island, and almost all the hotels here have special areas for gambling.
They cited Goodway Hotel, a new hotel with the Mandarin Hotel group, belonging to Jakarta-based businessman Tomy Winata, as an example. The hotel has a special armed team to guard gambling activities in the hotel.
Others which have small casinos include Pura Jaya Resort, Formosa Hotel, Oasis Hotel and Tering Bay in the Nongsa district.
Batam police claimed that they did not have any information on gambling at the hotels and restaurants, and that they had never been asked by the local administration to crack down on gambling.
A police spokesman, Senior Commander Suhartono, added, however, that more foreign businessmen might be attracted to the island because of the gambling activities.
The chairman of the local chapter of the Indonesian Ulemas Council, Mr Assyari Abbas, said everybody living on the island knew about the hotels and other places that provided gambling facilities, but the police had closed their eyes to them.
"The problem is that the local police cannot close down the gambling areas because they are tightly guarded by armed men," he said.
A number of non-governmental organisations also called on the central government and the national police to stop the gambling activities. They claimed that gambling was being backed by strong, and even dangerous, organised clans from Jakarta.
Mr Yudi Kurnain, coordinator of the National Youth Front (BOM Warna), said that the local police in Batam would not be able to close down the gambling dens because each had powerful backing from Jakarta.
"The police have decided to become deaf and blind, so they are powerless. We have suspicions that the local police are also being paid to allow the gambling," he said.