THE 30 remaining employees of Imperial Pacific International are not likely to receive their paychecks for the April 1-15 pay period because there are no funds for payroll, an IPI source told Variety.
IPI’s remaining employees were paid for the February 21-March 6 and March 7-20 pay periods.
Ken Taijeron, one of IPI’s 17 security guards, said they did not receive their salary for the March 26 to April 1 pay period.
For his part, Jess Aquiningoc, the team leader of IPI’s construction workers tasked to remove the two remaining towers from the construction site, reiterated that by failing to pay its 15 construction workers, IPI is risking the safety of the public because the remaining two tower cranes “need to be brought down before it’s too late.”
IPI’s failure to pay its employees is a violation of local and federal labor laws, and is one of the reasons for the five enforcement actions that Commonwealth Casino Commission Executive Director Andrew Yeom filed with the commission. Yeom is seeking the revocation of IPI’s exclusive casino license.
In an interview last week, the commission’s chairman, Edward C. Deleon Guerrero, said the revocation hearing was set for May 3, and will start at 10 a.m. in the commission’s conference room at Springs Plaza in Gualo Rai.
He said, prior to the hearing IPI and Yeom were expected to submit a list of any stipulations they may have regarding the charges and any settlement, as well as a complete list of all witnesses, a complete list of evidence, and any other materials to be presented during the hearing.
Some of the parts of tower crane No. 6 that were removed last year are seen on the ground next to unfinished Imperial Pacific International casino-hotel in Garapan. Two other tower cranes are still on top of the building.
