Inside Asian Gaming

IAG JAPAN SEP 2020 70 “Chairman DeLeon Guerrero places the public’s interest and welfare as his top priority while pursuing suitable policies to steer Saipan’s casino gaming industry in the right direction,” the commission tells Inside Asian Gaming . Sablan, who voted against confirming the new commissioners, says, “Many stern words have been directed at IPI over many a commission meeting ... but actual, tangible consequences against IPI for all its many failures remain to be seen.” In August, IPI requested “abatement” of license and regulatory fees due to the casino shutdown, prompting Governor Torres to threaten to suspend or revoke the company's license. Proposing a ninth casino license revision, IPI wants fee reductions and a two year extension of the deadline for completing the hotel to February 2023. UNSEALED, REVEALED Facing a US$11.6 million federal court judgment to compensate illegal workers injured at the Garapan site, IPI has denied responsibility for the workers. But the indictment unsealed last month “provides further confirmation that IPI played an active role in the scheme to use underpaid Chinese workers lacking work visas to build its casino,” Aaron Halegua, an attorney for the workers, says. If authorities find IPI engaged in human trafficking, it could be ineligible for US foreign worker programs that provide crucial labor in CNMI, which has a population below 55,000, 90% of it on Saipan. “I think we need to reassess the viability of the casino industry in the CNMI, particularly in light of bleak tourism projections, limited access to workers, IN FOCUS