The new owners of the Tinian Dynasty and Casino in the Northern Marianas are disappointed at the lukewarm response from residents and government officials to their US0 million plans for remaking the western Pacific island as a tourist destination.
Cario Hon, chief executive of Hong Kong-based Mega Stars Overseas, says the group is not getting as much support from the local community as it had hoped for, despite that fact that it has invested $40 million already to keep the struggling casino and hotel afloat and is about to invest hundreds of millions more to transform it into a full-fledged destination.
Since purchasing the property last fall, Mega Stars has been engaged in a war of words with the Tinian Casino Gaming Control Commission, which says the company has not properly applied for a license to operate the casino.
Hon counters that were it not for Mega Stars, Tinian Dynasty might be bankrupt or shut down with a significant loss of revenues and hundreds of jobs.
“We just want people to be more reasonable,” he said. “What we have done so far is a lot. We came here, we settled Dynasty’s obligations, we paid back taxes, back wages. But we now want to ask, do Tinian people want us or not? What do Tinian people want?”
Mega Stars is also part-owner of Marianas Stars Entertainment, one of two Chinese investor groups applying for a license to exclusively develop a US$2 billion integrated casino resort recently authorized on the neighboring island of Saipan, the largest island of the U.S. territory. The other applicant is Hong Kong-based Best Sunshine International.
Hon said the result of the application process on Saipan could affect the plans for Tinian, which includes a six-star hotel, two golf courses and a shopping mall.
The Saipan Lottery Commission is currently reviewing the applications.
