“I don’t know how to gamble,” he told reporters yesterday.
Whenever he goes to Las Vegas, he said, all he could play is the slot machine.
He believes, however, that casino operation on island will attract more investments and help boost the local economy.
More airlines may come in when a casino is opened here and there will be more tourists, he added.
A casino will also pave the way for other developments because it will create demand for more hotels, more golf courses and other tourist attractions, the former governor said.
Casino gamblers, he said, usually bring thousands of dollars.
Like in Las Vegas, he said, a casino will open the doors of many other businesses, including restaurants.
Tenorio does not believe a casino will turn Saipan into a “sin city.”
The cathedral in Las Vegas, he said, is much bigger than what Saipan has. Even Rome has a casino near the Vatican, he added.
He wonders why it is “okay” for the Catholics there to have casino but not those on Saipan.
He said in the U.S., only two states don’t have a casino —Utah and Hawaii.
But the state government of Hawaii right now is considering a casino in Waikiki, he added. Hawaii wants to follow the example of Singapore which now has casinos, he said.
Asked about the social problems that casino gambling may bring, Tenorio said: “If we don’t have casino soon there will be no commonwealth. So who is going to worry about social problems if there is no government?”
The people, he said, should realize that the CNMI government’s revenue projection dropped by $40 million in a matter of less than a year. “That is a lot of money that the commonwealth has been losing,” he said.
There are revenue-generating measures being proposed in the House, he said, like the rebate rate reduction and the repeal of qualifying certificate program, but these will only bring in $12 million to $15 million in additional revenue.
“We need $50 million a year,” Tenorio said.
Only casino gambling on Saipan, he added, will save the commonwealth.
Tenorio has pre-filed House Bill 17-186 which will allow “tele-casino” on Saipan. This measure will allow gamblers to patronize the existing casinos on Tinian and Rota while on Saipan through the use of video teleconference, the internet or other means.
