THE Commonwealth Casino Commission’s remaining 11 employees have submitted their renewal contracts, CCC Executive Director Andrew Yeom reported on Thursday.
“They should be processed soon as we are waiting and hoping for all approvals to be done within a week or two, if not days,” he told the commission.
CCC had over 50 employees prior to the shutdown of the lone casino operator on Saipan, Imperial Pacific International, in March 2020 amid the global Covid-19 pandemic.
Among the remaining CCC personnel are administrative staff members, an executive assistant to the commission and two staff members each in the Enforcement & Investigations, Permit & Licensing, Audit and Compliance divisions.
The commission started reducing the number of its employees in late June 2020. In Sept. 2021, Commissioner Diego M. Songao of Rota resigned for health reasons.
The other commissioners are Chairman Edward C. Deleon Guerrero, Vice Chairman Ralph S. Demapan, Ramon Dela Cruz of Tinian and Mario Taitano.
There are still a number of ongoing legal cases between the casino commission and IPI which recently submitted its reply to the briefing that the commission submitted earlier this month.
Chief Judge Ramona V. Manglona of the District Court for the NMI, for her part, recently ordered IPI and the commission to return to the court for a status conference on Jan. 14, 2022, regarding a limited receivership.
Yeom told the commissioners that the receivership “remains an issue to be on the alert to see how it continues to develop and/or evolve with the current case as well as other creditors’ cases in the future.”
He also reported that the commission has spent a total of $81,087. Of this amount, 54.91% was for personnel wages and benefits while 26.72% was spent on the board and other compensation.
Commonwealth Casino Commission Executive Director Andrew Yeom gestures as he speaks during a meeting with members of the House Committee on Gaming in July 2021.
