But Rep. Ramon A. Tebuteb, R-Saipan and delegation chairman, said funding assistance will depend upon the availability of funds.
He could not determine if there are available funds, but he said they will try to help the commission.
“We have to help each other and we will look for every means to support them,” he told Variety.
Tebuteb said they have received an official request from the Rota legislative delegation chairman, Independent Rep. Victor B. Hocog.
The Saipan delegation’s Committee on Ways and Means will look into that request, Tebuteb said.
Hocog, in an earlier interview, said the Rota casino commission would need $600,000.
The Rota delegation has already appropriated $20,000 from the island’s poker fees as the commission’s initial seed money.
Since they took their oath of office, all the five Rota casino commissioners are working without pay. They have already prepared the interim rules and regulations for the island’s casino industry.
Casino Commission Chairman Diego M. Songao said they will perform their fiduciary responsibility to set up the necessary operations of the commission.
Due to their limited resources, Songao said they will maximize the “available logistics” while requesting for funding assistance so they can hire a legal counsel, an executive director and a professional consultant.
