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Casino temporarily shuts down
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Posted on Jan 25 2019
Problems with the surveillance of the lone casino on the island caused it to shut down temporarily yesterday while their technicians and other personnel remedy the situation. The casino, however, reopened before the day ended Thursday.
This was the second time that operations of the casino stopped as it was also halted for almost two days in November last year since there were no foreign players coming in due to the aftermath of Super Typhoon Yutu.
The Francisco C. Ada/Saipan International Airport closed down and did not allowed incoming international flights after sustaining heavy damages brought by destructive force of Yutu, which reached Category 5 super typhoon intensity in late October last year.
A source told Saipan Tribune that the casino resumed its operations at around 5pm yesterday, which was the same time that Imperial Pacific (CNMI) LLC senior vice president for special projects Viola Alepuyo told Saipan Tribune.
“The Imperial Resort casino was shut down temporarily this morning due to a glitch in the surveillance system. Due to safety concerns and because the casino had very little to no patrons in the early morning hours, the decision was made to close the casino until the surveillance system was operational,” Alepuyo told Saipan Tribune.
“The closure is expected to last a short time and the casino should be back in full operations soon, but should be no later than 5pm.”
A separate source said the Commonwealth Casino Commission also suggested for the casino to shut down its operations because of safety concerns. Saipan Tribune tried to confirm it with the CCC, but they have yet to respond as of press time.
IPI, when it shut down its casino operations in November last year, said they too suffered damage and revenue losses amounting to hundreds of thousands of dollars like the same way the other businesses experienced on the islands of Saipan and Tinian.
Yutu’s destructive force directly impacted the CNMI’s tourism industry with tourists that were on the island during the typhoon being stranded for a few days and had to be airlifted by emergency flights by their respective home countries.
