Dynasty casino may not reopen until new owner takes over

Hong Kong Entertainment (Overseas) Investments Limited or HKE consultant Christopher D. Bishop told Variety, “Due to the typhoon — the last couple of typhoons — we have had a decrease in business mostly tour packages that come to our property.

Because of the conditions in Saipan, a lot of those tours have been cancelled or been reimbursed. It has driven our occupancy down to very low occupancy percentages at the hotel. This has caused us to close the casino temporarily starting on Friday at noon and we put in a request from the [gaming commission] on Tinian to close for three weeks and they granted that to us.”

Bishop said they are hoping the new investor can obtain a new gaming license so the casino can reopen again.

If not, Bishop said, then “that’s a problem. There will probably be an extension of the closure of the casino. It probably won’t reopen until it’s a new company.”

He added, “HKE is not interested in reopening the casino. So if it reopens it will be the new investor.”

A new investor, Tinian Entertainment Co. Ltd., has been attempting to secure a casino license and a paid a $200,000 application fee to the gaming commission on July 1.

Bishop noted that Dynasty “employs over half of the workers on the island. When we lose a third of our employees — not working [because of the casino’s closure] — it makes a big impact. There is no gaming revenue coming into the island.”

Variety learned that half of the senior jobs in the mayor’s office and field operations are funded by taxes paid by the casino.

But Bishop said “we still have the hotel open as a hotel resort, and we are again starting to see an increase in the number of guests.”

Tinian Dynasty employs over 500 people and will have two more restaurants.

“Everything on the hotel side is open,” Bishop added.

He said they are also trying to take care of their casino workers’ needs.

“We have granted them some special privileges…like free rent in the housing. We are providing all meals for them and their dependents for free. We are trying to take care of them. We are not terminating any of them.”

For her part, Tinian Casino Gaming Control Commission Executive Director Lucia Blanco Maratita said the island will be affected by the casino’s temporary closure.

“We cannot control certain things, but we will continue to work on minimizing the adverse effect by working with the company to address those issues and get the casino reopened,” she added.

Tinian resident and local historian Don Farrell said the casino’s re-opening will depend on how long it takes the Commonwealth Ports Authority to get the Saipan airport back into full operation.

“Since its inception, the Dynasty casino has contributed funds to support salaries and projects for both the gaming commission and the people of Tinian through the office of the mayor of Tinian,” he added. “Many of our people will be without an income until repairs to the Saipan airport are completed.”

Former Saipan Chamber of Commerce president Juan Pan T. Guerrero said, “It is a total shame that our government is not being proactive to at least make an attempt to help Dynasty. Our tourism was rebounding and reaching new levels.   Just because we have typhoons does not mean that we let our guard down. For the lack of proper planning and placement of necessary infrastructure, we will suffer again.”

In a media release, Tinian Mayor Joey Patrick San Nicolas said his immediate concern is to ensure that he is able to meet the municipality’s payroll obligations which include the gaming commission’s personnel cost and the continued delivery of essential supplemental assistance such as medical referrals.