In Japan and Genting Singapore Limited has reportedly shelved its campaign to bring an integrated casino resort to Yokohama after the giant city elected a new mayor that is vehemently opposed to the realization of such a gambling-friendly endeavor.
According to a report from GGRAsia, former university professor of public health Takeharu Yamanaka (pictured) defeated incumbent Fumiko Hayashi late last month to be named as the latest mayor of Yokohama. The source detailed that the 48-year-old anti-gambling campaigner subsequently went on to announce that he intends to ‘abolish’ the metropolis’ campaign to be given the right to bring a Las Vegas-style development featuring multiple hotels and restaurants, an exhibition center and a large casino to a 116-acre waterfront parcel of land near Yamashita Park.
Desirous duo:
Genting Singapore Limited was reportedly one of two firms alongside Melco Resorts and Entertainment Limited to be competing for the right to be selected as the preferred operating partner for Yokohama’s tilt at winning a 40-year integrated casino resort license from the federal government. The subsidiary of Asian gambling giant Genting Malaysia Berhad had purportedly already gone as far as to agree associated alliances for the project with Japanese gaming machines manufacturer Sega Sammy Holdings Incorporated alongside construction specialists Obayashi Corporation, Kajima Corporation and Takenaka Corporation.
However, the election of the anti-casino Yamanaka with support from the Constitutional Democratic Party, Communist Party of Japan and the Social Democratic Party reportedly spelled the death knell for this enterprise and prompted Genting Singapore Limited, which is already responsible for Singapore’s seven-hotel Resorts World Sentosa complex, to pull the plug. The operator purportedly used an official filing earlier today to declare that it has now decided to ‘cancel’ its efforts in Yokohama despite having spent ‘considerable time’ in preparing and submitting a ‘compelling bid.’
Reportedly read the filing from Genting Singapore Limited…
“We are surprised and disappointed by the unexpected turn of events leading to the city’s decision to cancel the Yokohama integrated casino resort bid. The company would like to thank all of parties who have supported and contributed to our Yokohama integrated casino resort bid and we extend our best wishes to the city of Yokohama.”
Genting Singapore Limited reportedly ended its filing by proclaiming that it believed its plan to bring an integrated casino resort to Yokohama, which is home to some 3.8 million people, involved ‘significant investment’ and would have benefitted the city as well as the wider region by helping to transform the metropolis into ‘a world-class tourism destination.’
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