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CW permit delays also affecting BSI
Best Sunshine International, Ltd. is also facing the same challenges with the processing of the Commonwealth-only work permits.
According to senior vice president for operations Donald Browne, they had to notify a few of their staff that they can’t report for work yet because of pending CW permits.
Although many of their foreign worker staff are just new on island and have new permits, Browne said they have some that were for renewals also.
“We have new, we have ones that have transferred, and ones that we’ve hired, that were on island already,” Browne said.
“We face the same challenges as everybody else. It’s at the forefront of our discussions every day,” he added.
For new hires, Browne said they have at least 50 pending CW applications for the gaming staff.
“We haven’t been fortunate to have any done in 90 days, to be honest with you. One hundred twenty days seem to be a more…from beginning to end, 120 days,” Browne said.
BSI would need to bring in more staff as they intend to open December this year.
“We’re doing the best we can to train U.S. people here on island to perform those duties but we just have so many positions and we’re going to have 1,500 or 2,000 more in the year,” Browne said.
He added that it’s going to be a mix of local and foreign workers but they can’t train everyone to fill those positions.
“We can’t train that many,” Browne said. “We’re going to train as many as we can, get them in the field here.”
Aside from the staff, BSI would need about 2,000 workers for the construction and completion of the upcoming Grand Mariana Casino & Hotel Resort at the Garapan site.
“At some point, we’re going to need about 2,000 construction workers,” Browne said.
“To finish work, we’re going to need a lot more. Right now, because it’s just pile driving…it’s not full force. When we do the frame structure, that’s when we bring in full workers,” he added.
When asked where they will get the workers, Browne said they will bring in from wherever they can.
“We will get bodies from wherever we can. We’re going to get many locals,” Browne said. “Hopefully we can get local people trained in the construction field as well.”
