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Saipan casino abiding by license agreement
The exclusive casino license holder on Saipan said that it would continue to abide by what was agreed upon on the license agreement. Imperial Pacific International (CNMI), LLC, the parent company of Best Sunshine International, Ltd., was given a 40-year license to build and operate an exclusive gaming facility on the island.
“[IPI] would continue to follow and meet what is required based on the exclusive casino license agreement. Currently the import labor is at 45 percent,” said IPI in a statement released to the media.
Gaming is the only division of the company where a huge number of employees are foreigners, mostly from the Philippines where a number of casinos have been operating for decades, since there are insufficient “talents on the island.”
IPI added that more locals would be hired when its non-gaming divisions, the hotel and resort, opens. IPI is aiming to open the first phase of its multibillion-dollar casino resort on Jan. 28, 2017.
“We are going to submit the annual plan for workforce employment before November 2016 as required by casino license agreement,” added IPI on its statement.
The Commonwealth Casino Commission, during its board meeting last week, asked IPI officials to submit a quarterly report on its workforce operations and encouraged them to train and hire more local or U.S. citizens as employees.
IPI vice president for human resources Bertha Leon Guerrero told the CCC board members that they continue to exert effort in trying to lure U.S. citizens, especially those who are studying or currently based in the mainland, to come back to the CNMI and work for them.
CCC officials also asked Leon Guerrero if reports were true that their temporary gaming facility has a high employee turnover rate, either by resignation or termination.
“As far as terminations, what I know would really be on performance of employees and attendance. As far as resignation, we do exit interviews but I’m not personally involved.
Some don’t want to engage in exit interviews or interview survey,” said Leon Guerrero.
She added that the gaming industry is fast paced and that’s why all employees need to be on their toes all the time.
