THE owner of Rendezvous Restaurant and Bamboo Bar on Wednesday said the looming closure of Saipan Vegas due to a new law that doubled the electronic gaming license fee will also shut down their establishments.
In an interview on Wednesday, Marvin Deocares the president of DMCC Corp. which owns Rendezvous Restaurant and Bamboo Bar, said Saipan Local Law 22-6 will have a “dramatic impact” on Saipan Vegas where his company is leasing space for the restaurant and the bar.
Rendezvous Restaurant occupies the second floor of the Saipan Vegas gaming arcade while Bamboo Bar is in the courtyard of the Vegas Hotel.
Deocares said if they shut down, all their 14 employees, who are all local/U.S. workers, will lose their jobs.
“We have been operating Rendezvous Restaurant and Bamboo Bar at Saipan Vegas for the last two and a half years, including during the 2020 pandemic shutdown period,” Deocares said.
Saipan Vegas, he added, “has been a supportive landlord and has assisted us by forgiving some of our rent during shutdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic and by providing other support.”
Deocares said that if Saipan Vegas is forced to shut down due to the doubling of the license fee, “we will also have to shut down our operations. This will result in an additional 14 local/U.S. workers losing their jobs during this difficult time.”
He added, “We humbly ask the Saipan legislative delegation to work with Saipan Vegas and come to a compromise solution regarding the license fee amount imposed on e-gaming machines.”
Signed by Gov. Ralph DLG Torres on Aug. 2, 2021, S.L.L. 22-6 was unanimously passed by the Saipan delegation without conducting a public hearing or soliciting comments from the affected businesses.
DMCC Corp. president Marvin Deocares, left, poses for a photo with Rendezvous Restaurant and Bamboo Bar staffers on Wednesday.
