Casino: Short-term gain with long-term pain

It saddens my heart whenever I hear about the Saipan casino proposal. It does not take a very educated man or woman to see the positive and negative effects on the economy if a casino is built and casino-style gambling is brought to the island. I’m sitting here wondering how and why our local government thinks a casino would be good for a sustainable economy. So with my common sense I came up with a few positive impacts on the economy if the casino proposal goes forward.

Sure the building portion or renovation of existing buildings into casinos would employ some for a short time in the construction industry. After being built or renovated, the casinos would create jobs for people as dealers for a variety of games, create more food industry jobs, and hotel and hospitality positions.

The negative impact is really not that hard to contemplate. Where are the gamblers going to come from to play the variety of games at the casinos? Is not that the revenue? I mean how can any outside investor think that a population of 60,000+ with over half making $5.50 or less could support a casino? Let alone our local government, who is already having financial trouble with public assistance programs, sustainable utility costs, and educational funding?

The economy does not need a casino. It needs leaders that understand that, to build an economy you need an industry. Tourism is not a sustainable industry and neither is a casino. Both are season-based economical revenues at best. With the world’s economies and the current U.S. credit down grade, how can the local government even be contemplating such a devastating decision? We are about to hit a depression, not a recession! With much of the island already living below the U.S. standard for poverty how can we support a casino? I guess the employees would be putting their paychecks right back into the casino. The community would be spending what little money they had on going to gamble in hopes of winning big. What about feeding our families? Where would that money come from?

The government just said they are having trouble in bringing in the needed food stamps to support community members who need food. They just cut the educational grants given to students. I mean, are the casino owners going to pay for food for the economy and give a multi-million dollar donation every six months to the Public School System and NMC? The federally funded programs are all about to end in just a short time.

Also, what do you think is going to happen with crime? Many of the employees at these casinos are going to start skimming, organized crime will rise, prostitution will get out of control, drug abuse will rise, and violent crimes will rise! Why? Because Saipan has no way to regulate these areas with the current law enforcement numbers it has, let alone the personal integrity of the agency constantly under scrutiny for drug abuse and corruption.

We need to bring interest to the island from some large companies that produce products and have manufacturing plants or distribution centers that serve the U.S. and Asian economies and have them build them right here on island. We need to do this by attracting them with our low wage and bringing down our utility cost and giving them a break on land leases. In return you leave an open avenue for an educational tax and tax break if these companies build on island and donate funds to the Public School System. This would bring a sustainable economy for the entire island by creating jobs and revenue that will exist when the tourist season has passed. This island cannot go forward with a casino! It would bring short-term gain and long-term pain!