“Unfortunately, the current licensee has not met a lot of their obligations and has not met their deadlines. I think we have reached a point where we have to decide when is enough, enough,” said Demapan, a House candidate in Precinct 1.
He said allowing other interested investors to operate in the island’s gaming industry may be the most viable option. “All options should be on the table now,” he added.
“The people need this industry to get back on its feet so we can continue to get the revenue that we saw in the 19th and the 20th Legislatures,” he said.
In the past, CNMI leaders supported an extension of construction deadlines “because it was a brand new industry at the time.”
However, he added, “several years have passed already and we need to hold people accountable and responsible.”
He noted that when the casino industry started operating on island, many other businesses opened up. “Now these new businesses are failing because this big industry is not in the game right now,” Demapan said.
Asked to comment on IPI Chief Executive Officer Donald Browne’s statement that over 700 gaming machines on Saipan are “unlawful,” Demapan said when the casino license agreement was negotiated and subsequently executed, the casino investor made a commitment to focus on tourists or offshore gamblers.
“So for them to make the argument years later against gaming machines — I don’t think it is fair or responsible,” Demapan said.
When the casino license agreement was executed, IPI “knew full well that they will be separate and apart from other gaming activities on island like e-gaming and poker arcades,” he added.
For his part, Commonwealth Casino Commission Executive Director Andrew Yeom said if IPI has concerns about other gambling activities on Saipan, “they have to address that to the Legislature.”
“We don’t make the law,” he said. “We are a regulatory body that enforces the law.”
The casino commission is not the regulatory body for poker arcades or e-gaming on Saipan, he added.
