Wakayama urged to give more detail on IR plans
Yoshinobu Nisaka, a member of the Japanese Liberal Democratic Party, has urged the Wakayama Prefectural Government not to hold public hearings until giving more details about the winning consortium.
Japan.- A member of the Japanese Liberal Democratic Party has called for Wakayama’s public hearing sessions on its integrated resort plans to be postponed until residents can be provided with more information about the proposed development.
According to GGRAsia, Yoshinobu Nisaka raised the issue on the first day of a Q&A between members of parliament and the Wakayama prefectural government on the local casino policy. The 14 public hearings on the proposed IR development have already been put back due to insufficient information on funding and the structure of the chosen consortium.
Nisaka said that to be able to submit a draft development plan, the “most important thing” that needs to be clarified is who will develop the project and how it will raise funds.
Canada’s Clairvest Neem Ventures Co Ltd, Wakayama’s IR partner, has an agreement with Caesars Entertainment. However, the US company said it would be a “no capital commitment” partner.
The planned initial investment in the IR development is JPY470bn (US$4.3bn). The Wakayama Prefectural Government hopes to open the integrated resort by 2026. It must submit its area development plan to the national government for approval by April 28, 2022.
Campaigners in Wakayama have collected signatures on a petition calling for a referendum of the integrated resort plans. They claim to have already passed the required 2 per cent of voters needed to submit a referendum motion request.
