Several lawmakers urged the Macau government and the six casino operators on Thursday (18 May) to review their emergency handling capacity in the wake of the recent rising trend in gaming related crimes.
During a plenary meeting of the Legislative Assembly on Thursday, several legislators called attention to a number of high profile criminal cases that recently took place in local casinos. They pressed the government and the industry to improve their capability in crime prevention as the city was prepared to receive more visitors.
Legislator Leong Sun Iok pointed out that in addition to reviewing its emergency handling capacity, the government also needed to draw up measures to protect the personal safety of frontline staff in casinos. He also asked the government to deploy more law enforcement officers to casinos to maintain law and order.
Meanwhile the problem of illegal currency exchange was also highlighted during the meeting. Legislators argued that the current penalty for illegal currency exchange was too light and thus had little deterrent effect; they called on the government to criminalize this activity in order to stamp out illicit currency exchange gangs.
