KUALA LUMPUR, June 15 — Lottery outlets in Perlis will become a thing of the past by next March when the last one closes down.

The Perlis government officially announced its decision yesterday to stop renewing operating licences for such outlets, Chinese vernacular paper Sin Chew Daily reported.

Perlis, now under Perikatan Nasional (PN) rule, is the fourth state to phase out gambling. The other states are Kelantan, Terengganu and Kedah, which are also run by PN.

Perlis exco member in charge of housing and local government Fakhrul Anwar Ismail told a news conference in Kangar that the state government would not be taking steps to directly close down the lottery industry or to ban gambling, but would be using a harmonious way to put an end to the lottery business there.

"Although the closing of betting outlets will lead to economic losses, but the state government has social harmony as its main consideration and at the same time for the public's interest, the state government is willing to sacrifice this annual sum of RM2,544 of revenue from the operating licence,” he was quoted as saying.

Fakhrul said the state government has been maintaining its stance on the closing of lottery businesses in the state and will not renew their operating licences.

He added that Perlis Menteri Besar Mohd Shukri Ramli had previously told the Perlis state legislative assembly the same thing.

Fakhrul reportedly said everyone was aware of the drawbacks of gambling and that Perlis was only following other states in banning gambling.

He also said the Kangar Municipal Council had given a verbal explanation as well as written notifications to lottery outlets in the state capital their licences would not be renewed.

According to Sin Chew Daily, Perlis currently has six existing lottery outlets, namely three in Kangar, two in Padang Besar, one at Kuala Perlis.

Four of the outlets' operating licences will expire on varying dates in July, September and October this year, while two of the outlets which managed to renew their licences this year will see their licences expire in January and March next year,

When asked if the closure of lottery outlets in Perlis would encourage the growth of illegal and online gambling, Fakhrul said this falls outside the state government's jurisdiction as it only regulates the physical outlets.

But he expressed hope for the public to work together with the authorities such as the police to stop gambling activities, and said the Kangar municipal council will take stern action if it receives information of any illegal gambling outlets masquerading as a legal company carrying out other forms of business.

Last week, the Perlis menteri besar was reported confirming that the state will not issue new operating licences to lottery companies, but would be bringing to the Perlis state exco meeting this week the issue of whether existing lottery outlets can continue to operate or would have to close down.

In March, Fakhrul was reported saying that the Perlis state government has not received new applications to open premises for gambling or lottery there, and that it plans to move towards stopping gambling and lottery premises.

On November 14, 2021, Kedah Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor announced that the Kedah government would not approve new gambling licences and would not renew existing licences to keep the state free from such activities.

From January 1 this year, all lottery ticket outlets in Kedah had to cease operations, as the Kedah state government decided that they should stop operations and that no licences would be renewed.