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Fair and balanced development for all islands of the CNMI
During the last year, Mega Stars has learned much about the challenges and the uncertainties facing investors in the CNMI. We have devoted a tremendous amount of resources—financial resources and human resources—to rescue the Tinian Dynasty Hotel & Casino. We settled unpaid wages, unpaid taxes, and debts. We also inherited several lawsuits that arose before our time. Just when we were starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel, we were caught with another surprise: the sudden passage of the Saipan casino law. In order to protect all that we had invested—and had committed to invest—on Tinian, we had no choice but to compete for a Saipan casino license.
We respect the Lottery Commission’s decision Tuesday to award an exclusive Saipan casino license to the other applicant. We sincerely hope this will bring the much‐needed economic prosperity to the people of the CNMI.
However, Tinian is also an important part of the CNMI. We hope CNMI elected officials will remember that the casino industry is a vitally important part of the economy and tax base of Tinian—and of the CNMI as a whole. We urge the CNMI’s leaders to adopt a fair and balanced approach to developing all of the CNMI’s islands.
We will certainly be impacted by having to compete with a mega‐casino on Saipan. Before we can define our strategy moving forward, we will need time to re‐assess and re‐evaluate our situation. We know this much, however: We are proud to be members of the community on Tinian and in the CNMI, and hope we can remain so for years to come.
Cario Hon
CEO, Mega Stars Overseas Ltd.
