Finance finalizing timeline for release of 25-percent pension

Department of Finance Secretary Larrisa Larson disclosed yesterday that they are now finalizing the timeline for the release of the retirees’ withheld 25-percent pension.

“We don’t have a date yet, but it’s our goal to make it as fast as possible,” said Larson in an interview. “We should have a timeline very shortly that we will be releasing to the media.”

She said the first batch of checks would most likely be for the restoration of the retirees’ deferred 25-percent pension.

This comes soon after the Lottery Commission gave Best Sunshine International Ltd. a conditional license to build an integrated casino resort on Saipan. Once Best Sunshine is officially awarded the license, that will trigger the release of the $30 million license fee that Best Sunshine deposited in a bank on escrow. That money would be used to pay the retirees’ deferred 25-percent pension since last year, as well as the accrued interest on withdrawn Defined Benefit plan contributions.

Larson said they are having discussions with the Retirement Fund to see who would be able to release the money faster.

“We should have it soon in the next couple of days or we have a tentative date. But we want it as fast as possible,” she said.

Larson acknowledged that the retirees have been waiting a long time and that the Inos administration is aware of the importance in restoring their money immediately.

On the casino project, Larson said the next step is primarily the issuance of a conditional license, which is being worked out now.

Larson said the next step is the implementation of Best Sunshine’s plans.

The secretary said that after the license is awarded then the Casino Gaming Commission will take over.

“As far as oversight of the casino itself and the implementation of the plan from that point we completed our work,” she said.

Larson said they’re very grateful to both bidding companies: Best Sunshine International Ltd. and Marianas Stars Entertainment Inc.

Larson said the Lottery Commission, of which she is a member, did its part in making sure that all applications were reviewed.

“We hired consultants to make sure that everything was in place,” she said. “We feel very confident that we made the right choice.”

With the conditional license given to Best Sunshine, Larson said they still have some administrative matters to attend to.

“We will be continuing our meetings, but it won’t be as frequent [compared to] what’s been happening over the last couple of months,” she said.

The secretary pointed out that they had a very tight timeline with the casino law so they had to expedite their work on it.

“So now that the major work has been done, we can go back to our normal operations,” Larson added.