In Macau and a group of legislators have reportedly called on the government to institute an official assessment regarding just how the city’s current crop of six licensed casino operators have performed over the past two decades.

According to a report from GGRAsia, the request comes as the former Portuguese enclave is considering how to conduct its expected casino license tendering process and an associated public consultation that could begin before the end of the year. The source also detailed that the jurisdiction’s existing collection of permitted operator’s, which encompasses SJM Holdings Limited, Galaxy Entertainment Group Limited, Melco Resorts and Entertainment Limited, MGM China Holdings Limited and the local Sands China Limited and Wynn Macau Limited subordinates of Las Vegas Sands Corporation and Wynn Resorts Limited respectively, are due to see their authorizations expire in June of 2021.

Prominent proponent:

Macau legislator Ella Lei Cheng I is reportedly among a group of lawmakers that has now asked the government of Chief Executive Ho Iat-Seng to carry out an inquiry and release its subsequent findings in advance of conducting the envisioned casino license tender. She purportedly heads a committee tasked with monitoring the public concessions for the city of some 682,800 inhabitants and believes that such an examination would give the public more information ahead of the obligatory consultation.

Communal concern:

Also serving as the Vice-Chair for the local Federation of Trade Unions organization, Lei purportedly declared that she would like the government to look into just ‘how the gaming companies have exercised their contracts for the past 20 years’ in order to provide the citizens of Macau with ‘a better grasp of information before the consultation takes place’.

Anticipated agenda:

Lei purportedly also proclaimed that some of her compatriots raised concerns regarding the proposed inspection due to the ‘tight’ timeframe associated with the upcoming tender. Nevertheless, she purportedly disclosed that the government is still planning to conduct the public consultation, alter a plethora of existing laws on gambling and issue the new licenses in advance of next summer’s deadline.

Complex calendar:

Macau is currently home to 41 casinos including the iconic Casino Grand Lisboa that last year generated some $7.61 billion in aggregated gross gaming revenues. Lei reportedly divulged that the government has yet to respond to her group’s request for an official probe or stipulate just how it intends to resolve a range of attendant issues such as making gaming concessionaires more socially responsible and ensuring that they collaborate more closely with small and medium enterprises so as to further enrich the local tourism scene.