Nearly six years after the fire at Casino Royale in the city of Monterrey where 52 people were killed, he said that a similar incident could not be repeated: "The past is the past, what we must not commit are the errors of yesterday,” he said.
Calderón was responding to questions regarding statements made recently by the President of the Mexican Gaming Association (AIEJA), Miguel Angel Ochoa, who revealed that more casinos could be granted permission to operate in the state, reaching between 35 and 45 or even by as many as 60 by 2020.
"The region
is a society that is making advances, an educated society, a society that needs
to have fun.” Calderón said. "I am not against society having fun and doing it
in a healthy way. I am not against thousands of retirees, who need to go and
have fun. As long as the activity is carried out via a public bidding process,
is always respectful of the law, we will not be against it.”
In 2016 the mayor of Monterrey, Adrián de la Garza Santos, told fellow
lawmakers that no casino licences had been granted during his term of office.
The mayor said that casinos had been blocked from opening during his
administration via a specific impediment that allows local authorities to
intervene to ensure that they do not open.
Calderón became the first independent candidate to be elected governor of a Mexican state in 2015 and will serve as governor until 2021.
Source: GMB / G3 Newswire
