Akihabara News (Tokyo) — In a stunning development, the special committee of the prefectural assembly examining the project to build a ¥470 billion (US$3.6 billion) casino resort at Marina City in Wakayama has voted it down.
The committee vote was five members in favor and ten against, with the Japan Communist Party representatives joined by most of the Liberal Democratic Party committee members.
The plan was that the committee would pass the initiative followed by a plenary vote in the full chamber. It is now unclear what will happen, especially since the deadline for the project to be submitted to the national government for licensing is April 28, just over a week away.
Even if some method is found to secure the Wakayama Prefectural Assembly’s consent before the deadline, the credibility of the project, especially in regard to the financing arrangements, has suffered a serious blow, making it less likely that the national government authorities would issue a license.
The Clairvest Group-led consortium has had chronic difficulty convincing local leaders that they have access to sufficient funds to bring the project to a successful conclusion.
Questions have also been raised about whether or not the prefectural administration provided false testimony to the committee, and an investigation has been launched. This appears to center on the question of whether it was falsely testified that Shinsei Bank had agreed to help finance the project.
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