THE Commonwealth Ports Authority seeks Tinian and Rota lawmakers’ help in reintroducing a measure that would grant CPA a fee waiver in connection with its planned operation of poker and amusement business inside Tinian and Rota airports.
“We’re encouraging again our Tinian and Rota delegations to reintroduce the bill in the 13th Legislature,” CPA Executive Director Carlos H. Salas said in an interview.
The bill, which was first introduced but was not passed in the 12th Legislature, aims to exempt CPA from paying the $8,000 license fee per machine per year, as well as from complying with the required quota on the number of machines allowed to own.
The bill was shelved in the 12th Legislature because, lawmakers said, it had provisions that would allow concessionaires to operate the machines and not CPA. Lawmakers, led by Rep. Stanley T. Torres, R-Saipan, blocked the bill claiming that business magnate Willie Tan, who owns a string of poker arcades, could easily get the contract.
“We hope to have it passed so we could implement the plan which basically aims to generate revenues for these airports,” Salas said. Earlier, the CPA board approved the operation of gambling and amusement devices at Rota and Tinian airports.
