Best Sunshine will stay open for now
As Imperial Pacific International works to complete its multimillion-dollar casino resort on the island of Saipan, the company has received permission to continue operating its temporary facility, Best Sunshine Live, at the T Galleria mall.
Best Sunshine’s license was due to expire April 30. Imperial Pacific asked for an extension to October 31, 2017 and also asked for a continuation of the new resort’s construction deadline to February 11, 2018. The Commonwealth Lottery Commission granted a 16-month extension on both counts, reported Marianas Variety. Imperial Pacific is expected to complete the project in Garapan by August 2018.
Commerce Secretary Mark O. Rabauliman said the commissioners “moved forward with the extension based on the public comments, those who are in support and the concerns raised.
“The thought process here is, there’s a lot of livelihood that’s tied into it. We’ve come this far on the progress IPI had made,” he said. “To immediately yank it without further thoughts put forth to me seems irresponsible.”
In recent months Imperial Pacific has raised eyebrows with reports about the possible illegal workers on its construction site and suspected shady dealings at the Best Sunshine casino. The high-roller tables at the former duty-free shop far outperform the most profitable casinos in Macau on a table-to-table gaming volume basis, reported the New York Times. In 2016, the temporary casino with 16 tables generated about $32 billion in gaming volume.
But Shen Yan, president for global capital markets at Imperial Pacific, refutes all such speculation. “We have very stringent procedures on compliance to prevent money-laundering activities,” he told the Times, and attributed the high per-table revenue to limited supply of gaming space as compared to Macau, and the fact that customers tend to stay and gamble longer when traveling to Saipan.
As far as labor issues are concerned, the company said in a statement that its executives “denounce in strongest terms the harboring and the use of illegal workers by some of its contractors and subcontractors—and the utter disregard on the rights and well-being of these affected individuals.” One of the workers recently died after a fall on the job.
The allegations against Imperial Pacific may finally be having an impact on revenues, according to GGRAsia. In April its temporary casino achieved rolling chip volume of about US$2.15 billion, down 32.5 percent from the prior-year period. For the four months to April 30, the Hong Kong-listed firm reported VIP rolling chip volume of US$12.37 billion.
Rep. Vinnie F. Sablan of Saipan says the government should take a closer look at the ongoing casino project. “I do not oppose them. It is no secret that IPI and its employees have done great things,” he said. “There’s economic boom and a lot of jobs were created for our people. But we could not turn a blind eye and pretend that there is nothing negative that is happening. There are illegal workers, orders on environment, and the living conditions. This can’t be ignored.”
Meanwhile, the Saipan Tribune reports that Imperial Pacific’s gaming operations in the region will be subject to a 5 percent tax on gaming revenues if the is approved by the CNMI House of Representatives. CNMI Governor Victor B. Hocog said the government is looking to introduce the new tax when Imperial Pacific opens its permanent casino.
Currently Imperial Pacific pays an annual license fee of US$15 million but no gaming taxes.
