THE Tinian Casino Gaming Control Commission has yet to revoke the license of Tinian Diamond Hotel and Casino, which shut down in December 2024.
In an interview on Tuesday, the commission chairman, Antonio Borja, said they are still waiting for the casino’s owner, Bridge Investment Group, to respond to the letter they sent following the casino’s closure. The company has not responded to their letter, Borja said.
“They voluntarily shut down the casino, [so] of course, the license should be revoked,” Borja said.
However, he said, the commission wants to know “if the shutdown is definite or if there’s still a plan to reopen it in the future.”
“They can reopen anytime if they change their mind, that’s why we wrote them a letter to ask them,” Borja said.
The Tinian Diamond Casino, which is located at Tinian harbor, shut down on Dec. 26, 2024 or more than a year after it opened on Nov. 29, 2023. It secured the casino license five years prior to its actual opening, and had been paying the commission $500,000 in annual license fee and a $2,000 industry service fee.
Tinian Diamond Casino board member Erik Wang has yet to respond to Variety’s request for comment regarding the casino’s 29 employees, but other sources on Tinian said the workers, some of whom are from Saipan, were fully paid.
Tinian Mayor Edwin P. Aldan said the casino shut down because it wasn’t making money, as no tourists were coming to the island to gamble.
Tourist arrivals in the CNMI remain below pre-pandemic levels.