DHAKA: Sri Lanka has suspended final approval for two casinos involving a total investment of around a billion dollars after protests from within the ruling coalition’s ranks.

A Bill giving the two separate casino hotels the go-ahead and granting them a 10-year tax holiday was due to be presented to Parliament on Thursday.

But investment promotion minister Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena said he has withdrawn the bill, which was meant to grant final approval to the projects after cabinet gave them the green light last month.

‘The government felt that we should withdraw this Bill because of the concerns raised by some of our own coalition partners,’ Abeywardena told reporters, according to The Straits Times.

BDST: 1933 HRS, OCT 22, 2013
RoR/GCP