Dynasty’s casino remains shuttered

The expected Dec. 15 re-opening has come and gone but the casino floor of the Tinian Dynasty Hotel & Casino remained closed despite full-page advertisements in local papers Tuesday and last week.

Calls to Tinian Dynasty reservations confirmed that the hotel and casino has not re-opened its casino operations yet, while calls to general manager Christopher Bishop remain unanswered as of press time.

Tinian Casino Gaming Control Commission executive director Lucy Blanco-Maratita did confirm that Tinian Dynasty’s casino floor remains closed.

She said Tinian Dynasty was prevented from reopening the casino because its owners, Hong Kong Entertainment (Overseas) Investments, Ltd., has yet to meet “conditions that were imposed by the TCGCC.”

“They won’t open until they complete the requirements. There are no new requirements and we’re just following the previous commission-imposed conditions,” Blanco-Maratita told Saipan Tribune in a telephone interview.

She reiterated that Tinian Dynasty wouldn’t be allowed to reopen its casino until it fulfills all the requirements. She, however, said that the commission is always open for continuous dialogue with HKE.

“It would be up to them when they meet the requirements and if they want to set up a meeting, of course, my office is always open,” Blanco-Maratita said.

The company’s casino operations reopening were contingent on several wage, fee, and contract-related conditions. They include:

Payment of table and slot machine fees and outstanding taxes from last fiscal year, starting in August. The casino has paid the $250,00 annual casino license fee, she said.

The casino needs to pay unpaid employee salaries or submits a plan on how they will repay on these employees’ back wages

The casino must assure that they will continue to contract services with Spectrum Gaming, a consultant, for casino management to help the casino maintain compliance

The casino has to make sure employee license or hotel registrations are up to date. Some of the employees have had provisional licenses, only good for a certain period. Blanco-Maratita said the licenses need to be renewed.

The casino must identify and disclose the source of funds for its reopening.

If it did reopen, however, Blanco-Maratita said Tinian Dynasty’s casino will not be a 24-hour operation, as it will operate only from 11am to 3am the following morning, and close between those hours, except for Friday through Saturday, where they will be open for 24 hours.

Tinian Dynasty’s casino was closed in August this year, followed by the hotel’s closure in September, with the management citing the impact of Typhoon Soudelor, which hit Saipan on Aug. 3.