Local authority plans to shut down all gambling spots in Riga

RIGA, March 21 (Xinhua) -- The Riga City Council security, public order and anti-corruption committee on Thursday ordered the local authority's legal committee to draft a decree to shut down all gambling halls in the Latvian capital, municipal officials informed.

Janis Liepins, head of the City Council's legal department, commented that the local authority's decision might affect some 200 gambling spots in Riga.

However, in accordance with the administrative procedure, the City Council will have to take a separate decision on the closure of each individual gambling hall, he explained.

The City Council took the first step towards phasing out gambling business from the Latvian capital in 2017 by deciding to ban casinos from the old City. Meanwhile, gambling-related problems in Riga's suburban neighborhoods remained unsolved.

The local authority is therefore determined to do everything to make Riga a gambling-free City.

Riga stopped issuing licenses for new gambling halls in 2001.

Janis Pinnis, president of the Latvian Association of Hotels and Restaurants, called the City Council's decision unexpected and warned that the gambling industry might take legal action to prevent the closures.