Worker protests mar event
Imperial Pacific International’s new permanent casino on the Pacific island of Saipan has made its debut. According to Marianas Variety, the resort was described by early visitors as “impressive, amazing and beautiful.”
The $550 million resort’s soft opening took place July 6, just as the company’s Best Sunshine Live temporary gaming hall ceased operations at the T Galleria shopping center.
Saipan, a U.S.-controlled territory, is the largest island in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands chain. A number of CNMI lawmakers attended the opening—including some who did not support the resort development.
“Well, I voted no in that casino bill,” said CNMI Vice Speaker Janet Maratita. “However, the majority of them supported it and now that it’s here I think it’s just fair that we give time to the casino and see how it will progress. So far it has some benefits to the public, especially the intent of it is to help the retirees, and I can only hope that it will continue to generate revenues for the general public so everyone can benefit, especially the public health.”
“We know it doesn’t stop here,” said Rep. John Paul Sablan. “They need to finish the construction of the entire hotel and as long as I am in the legislature, I will make sure that they meet the deadline.”
Construction of the facility—which still is not complete—has been hampered several times by several factors, including damage from Typhoon Soudelor and lack of materials.
But workforce issues caused most of the delays. Some laborers protested at the site during the opening, saying they have been unpaid and underpaid, especially considering some of them were recruited from outside Saipan and paid a stipend to get the jobs. The workers, who mainly hail from China’s Rust Belt, say they won’t leave Saipan until they get their money—about $6,000 each—reported Casino.org.
“In my personal opinion, even if we employ the people of Saipan, there is still a need for CW (temporary) workers,” said Sablan. “We still need to employ foreign workers to help us with our developments and our economy to move forward.”
The resort has a 140,000-square-foot casino floor with more than 70 gaming tables as well as over 190 electronic gaming machines. Eventually its 14-story hotel will have 340 hotel suites including 15 deluxe villas, reported the Guam Daily Post.
There’s been great interest in Imperial Pacific operations on the island. The temporary casino and training center based pulled in as much or more revenue than the biggest casinos in Macau. Last December, Danny Ewing, Best Sunshine Live’s former VP of table games, filed a wrongful termination suit against the company. He claimed it violated anti-money laundering statutes and drilled its customers in how to structure their bets to avoid filing transaction reports. Imperial Pacific has denied these allegations.
Curiously, despite generating extraordinary gaming revenues, Imperial Pacific seems to be struggling financially and currently owes $1.6 million to its contractors, according to another outstanding lawsuit. Yet the company has pledged to spend as much as $2.5 billion on additional adjoining hotel towers and other attractions.
