Previous Story
Saipan casino bill will ‘scar’ Rota
|
Posted on Jul 24 2011
Rota Gaming Commission chair Laura Manglona said the Saipan casino bill will “scar” Rota and will be the “most divisive” issue of the 17th Legislature.
Responding to Rota Legislative Delegation chair Sen. Juan M. Ayuyu’s (Ind-Rota) request for the Rota Gaming Commission’s position on House Local Bill 17-44, Manglona said it “would be the most divisive event of this Legislature. If the H.L.B. 17-44 were to pass, our economic situation in Rota will continue to be scarred with bandages.”
She said that five years prior to passage of the Rota Casino Act of 2007, the residents of Rota have had similar debates over the casino industry.
Manglona said while the casino proposal on Saipan has been defeated in past plebiscites on the island, it however continues to go through a “short-cut legislation, an industry that seem to bypass the will and consent of the residents of Saipan and the Northern Islands.”
The Rota Gaming Commission chair urged Ayuyu to weigh the unintended consequences of such a controversial issue as the Saipan casino bill.
“You have it in your power to help us heal once and for all, to emerge as a stronger community, ready to embrace the economics of tourism opportunities that can help our new economic gaming industry in Rota,” she said in her July 18 letter to Ayuyu.
Manglona also asked the Rota lawmaker to consider creative alternatives for the Commonwealth’s economic plan that all people of the CNMI could embrace.
Rep. Froilan Tenorio (Cov-Saipan) in a recent interview with the Saipan Tribune said a fully developed casino industry on Saipan could bring in as much as $500 million annually to the Commonwealth.
Senate President Paul A. Manglona (R-Saipan), meanwhile, said if the House indeed passes HLB 17-44, the upper chamber will follow through with its threat to file a lawsuit.
Introduced by Rep. Stanley M. Torres (Ind-Saipan), HLB 17-44 seeks to legalize casino operations on Saipan. It is pending at the Saipan and Northern Islands Legislative Delegation.
