TINIAN local officials are upbeat about a multi-million dollar project of a Korean investor who has expressed willingness to construct a casino, golf course and a university on the island.
Philip Mendiola-Long, assistant chief executive officer at the Tinian Mayor’s Office, yesterday disclosed that Mayor Francisco Borja visited Korea recently to verify the investment group’s credentials and finalize a plan of action for the project.
“The mayor was invited by the investor to come over to Korea,” said Long.
Borja left on Sunday and was scheduled to arrive late yesterday, Long said.
He said the mayor was exercising “due diligence” in making the trip to Korea to ensure that local taxpayers’ money was not wasted and that he was transacting business with the investor and not a mere broker.
Long did not divulge the investment group’s name pending a final agreement on the project.
He said the company recently had a groundbreaking ceremony for a university project on Guam.
He said the investor appears “very serious.”
Long said the investor sent a surveying team to Tinian two weeks ago to check on the proposed site of the project.
Long said the Mayor’s Office has assigned a local official to assist the investor in the permitting procedure and other requirements like clearances from the Marianas Public Lands Authority, the Coastal Resource Management, the Division of Fish and Wildlife and the Division of Environmental Quality, among others.
“We want to make sure that (the investor) is not discouraged by too much paperwork,” Long said.
