Akihabara News (Tokyo) — A citizens’ group in Wakayama city has begun collecting signatures calling for a popular referendum to be held on whether or not an Integrated Resort (IR) including a casino should be built at the Marina City location.
“I want us to engage in serious discussions, not just leave big issues like this one to the governor, the mayor, and other politicians,” explained Kaya Ikeda, one of the leading citizen volunteers.
Under the Local Autonomy Act, over a one-month period, signatures must be collected from at least 2% of the city’s population—in Wakayama’s case about 6,200 people. The organizers, however, are aiming to collect about 20,000 signatures before the December 5 deadline.
The organizers are well aware that a similar effort in Yokohama last year succeeded in collecting enough citizen signatures, only to have the referendum blocked by the city council.
However, Yasushi Toyoda, another of the citizen leaders, noted, “after that, the awareness of the citizens increased and it affected the mayoral election.”
The Wakayama IR referendum movement is arising at a later stage in the development process than had been the case in Yokohama. A consortium led by Clairvest Neem Ventures and including the participation of Caesars Entertainment has already been selected as the prefecture’s partner, and the construction plans are being finalized ahead of possible endorsement by the Wakayama Prefectural Assembly and submission to the central government for potential licensing.
This is essentially the final chance for direct citizen action to stop the IR plan from going forward.
Toyoda explained, “I would like to hear the opinions of the residents regardless of whether they agree or disagree with the invitation of IR. Isn’t it the basis of democracy to listen to the voices of citizens about what kind of town development we will provide for ourselves, our children, and our grandchildren?”
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