BSI’s Brown calls political ads false, ‘incompetent’

Best Sunshine International is nonpartisan and finds recent political ads linking them to this year’s political fray to be “false, misleading, and incompetent,” according to president and CEO Mark Anthony Brown.

In an interview yesterday, Brown was upset over two full-page ads in both newspapers tying them in claims against gubernatorial candidate Gov. Eloy Inos.

One advertisement accused Inos of distributing the $10 million utility vouchers—provided by BSI under a contracted Community Development Fund—a day before the election to swing votes. The other ad, asking “Who Benefits?”, essentially claimed that BSI would pay no taxes for the next 40 years.

“That group needs to explain to me why you are tying us to a certain side, when we’ve not given one dollar, we haven’t done anything. We don’t care who wins really. We only care that the people whom they vote for, that’s who we want to win. That’s it,” he said.

Brown said for someone to keep tying them to the political race is a “total waste of money.”

“This negative group…what are you trying to accomplish? Do you want us to go home? Okay. What did you accomplish? Nothing,” he said.

Brown said he does not know the group that’s responsible for the ad and is not interested in meeting with them.

“It’s total misrepresentation,” he said of the ads. “No. 1, I don’t know who they are, and No. 2, I couldn’t care less who they are because they are obviously very incompetent and not very knowledgeable about whatever they are talking about. That’s someone I don’t really want to meet.”

Brown said BSI is “doing everything we possibly can” for the people who live on these islands, citing the launch of their beautification program and the money that will be provided by BSI under their contracted Community Benefit Fund.

Once construction work on the casino is underway, BSI is required to contribute $20 million to education, scholarships, infrastructure, healthcare, or employee retirement benefits.

They are also required, after their first full year of operation, to put in $20 million a year for these community benefit programs.

“We’re going to have something that’s going to change this island for everyone, with jobs [and] infrastructure. It’s going to be incredible for Saipan,” he said.

The advertisements Brown was referring to came from the committee to elect Heinz Hofschneider and Ray Rumul.