Gaming operations at Macau’s Casino Golden Dragon were suspended for five hours on Saturday due to “power-related issues,” confirmed the city’s casino regulator the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau in an emailed statement to GGRAsia in response to our enquiry.
Casino Golden Dragon – located near the Macau Maritime Ferry Terminal at the Outer Harbour on Macau peninsula – saw its gaming business suspended from 10am until 3pm that day, stated the regulator, a body also known by the Portuguese-language acronym DICJ.
Additionally on Saturday in a separate incident, gaming operations at Macau’s Ponte 16 casino resort had a 10-hour suspension due to a power outage. Macau’s electricity supply company CEM had told us on Monday that its power supply to that particular property had been normal on the day in question.
The gaming bureau said in its Tuesday email to GGRAsia: “On January 19, 2019, apart from a power outage that took place at Ponte 16 casino, Golden Dragon’s casino also had a temporary suspension starting from 10am on that day due to power issues; but operation at Golden Dragon casino had resumed at 3pm on the same day.”
The bureau said “timely reports” had been made to it regarding the incidents, and “so far” the gaming regulator had not found what it termed “any abnormal conditions” at the sites.
It added: “The gaming operators need to submit a detailed report to the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau to explain the situation when they need a suspension for their gaming equipment or gaming venues. The bureau will then conduct the corresponding review on the matter and ensure all gaming activities are in place legally and fairly.”
Following the gaming bureau’s email, GGRAsia approached CEM asking for comment regarding the Golden Dragon incident.
The electricity supplier said regarding Golden Dragon: “At the time and place as reported [by DICJ], we did not detect any power outage at the site in question, nor had we received any requests from them [the site operator] for our company’s help”.
Casino Golden Dragon, operated by Golden Dragon Group Co Ltd, is run under the gaming rights of SJM Holdings Ltd. GGRAsia tried to contact local businessman Chan Meng Kam, the boss of Golden Dragon Group, asking for comment on the Saturday incident, but had not received a reply by the time the story went online.
