Threat of competition
Employees of the National Ports Authority in Ciudad del Este, Paraguay are up in arms about a casino and hotel proposed for the city, reports G3Newswire.com.
The workers plan to protest the granting of a construction permit for the development, which would be located in a building belonging to their association headquarters near the Friendship Bridge. The bridge connects Ciudad del Este with the Brazilian city of Foz do Iguaçu.
The building is home to a number of government offices including the Customs Office, which will have to move to another site. In November 2015, trade union members asked a court to block the development, saying there is a ban in place that prohibits further development in the area. But the news outlet says opposition to the project may lie in fears that the hotel could be a duty-free zone, which could mean unfair competition for shops and businesses in the area.
Ciudad del Este City Council President Teodoro Mercado said the potential development “will be like a filter, a sieve, where the people who visit the city will remain. They will no longer go to the downtown area. Our concern is not political, and I believe that citizens and merchants must mobilize.”
Union lawyer Nicolás Russo said workers will take the matter before the Anti-Corruption Office and the Comptroller General.
Total investment for the project, which includes a 20-year license, is between US$50 million and $70 million. Hard Rock International has already pledged to invest up to $70 million in a casino resort in Paraguay’s second largest city, located on the Panama River.
Javier Balbuena, president of the Comision Nacional De Juegos De Azar, Paraguay’s regulatory body, has reportedly pushed for an immediate tender process due to the possibility that Brazil could soon legalize casino gaming. He said his department expects to field bids starting in March 2017 “if all goes as planned, because otherwise we will not find anyone who wants to invest.”
Balbuena reportedly defended the controversial location, saying, “People have still not realized the benefits that it will bring to the city.”
