KUALA LUMPUR – All gambling and lottery businesses in Kedah have ended their operations effective today following the state government’s earlier decision to not renew licences for such premises in 2023.
Kedah Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor said that local authorities have been instructed to monitor the relevant premises to ensure that no illegal business is being conducted.
“You’ll never know if any of them (gambling and lottery shops) are still operating.
“All of their licences have expired by December 31 and will no longer be renewed,” he was quoted as saying today by Berita Harian.
On November 14 last year, Sanusi had announced that the PAS-led Kedah government would neither issue new licences nor renew existing ones for gambling businesses – including all 4D lottery businesses – in the state starting immediately.
In justifying his decision, Sanusi said that his administration wanted to turn Kedah into a “gambling-free state”, claiming that gambling causes the collapse of family institutions and the nation’s civilisation.
He added that the state government would restrict the sale of alcohol in public, including on the duty-free tourist island of Langkawi as well as in rural areas on the mainland.
The gambling ban was subsequently met with criticism, including from several state residents who filed a judicial review at the Alor Star High Court on November 18 contending that the decision was “unreasonable”. – The Vibes, January 1, 2023
