“The people of Saipan have spoken twice already but I think they should be given another chance to voice their concern whether or not they’re going to change their position,” Dela Cruz said.
He said he will also recommend to the Tinian and Rota legislative delegations to support the Saipan casino legislation.
Tinian and Rota both have casinos, which have been struggling since they opened.
“This is a major decision and I think every single voter in Saipan should be allowed to decide,” Dela Cruz said, referring to the Saipan casino proposal.
On Tinian, he said he will continue to look for another casino operator.
The other day, he said Neo Gold Wings Paradise asked him to request the Department of Public Lands to give the company 90 days to comply with their obligation.
Neo Gold, which pledged to invest $3 billion on a new Tinian casino, has yet to remit to DPL over $130,000 in unpaid monthly land rent plus interest.
No more certified question
The Saipan and Northern Islands Legislative Delegation may no longer ask the court about the constitutionality of the local casino bill.
Although a certified question has already been drafted, Rep. Joseph M. Palacios said the Committee on Judiciary and Government Operations, which he chairs, will no longer take that route.
Palacios, R-Saipan, told reporters yesterday that the committee will ask the delegation to act right away on House Local Bill 17-44 which legalizes casino on Saipan.
He said the House legal opinion that will support the delegation action has already been drafted and will be taken into account by the committee report .
Speaker Eli D. Cabrera, R-Saipan, said the casino measure is not going to be on the session calendar of today’s delegation session. But as soon as the committee report is complete, they may act on the bill in the next session.
Rep. Ray N. Yumul, R-Saipan and the chairman of the delegation Ways and Means panel, said he supports the idea of passing the casino bill right away.
His committee is jointly reviewing the bill with Palacios’ panel.
The delegation chairman, Rep. Ray A. Tebuteb, said he would prefer that they file a certified question with the court before acting on the bill.
Otherwise, the committees should indicate in their joint report that they recommend the bill’s passage, Tebuteb, R-Saipan.
Rep. Stanley T. Torres, Ind.-Saipan and author of the bill said he is expecting the delegation to pass the measure in two weeks.
“We need to act on this right away. The economy is hurting,” he said.
The Senate, which is dominated by Rota and Tinian, earlier threatened to question the constitutionality of the local bill.
