CCC continues to monitor IPI payroll

The Commonwealth Casinos Commission has insisted that it continues to monitor the situation.

Northern Mariana Islands.- Commonwealth Casinos Commission president Edward C. Deleon Guerrero has responded following criticism about the current situation of Imperial Pacific International and the operator’s delays in paying its employees.

Deleon Guerrero said that the regulator is constantly monitoring the situation of the operator’s construction work, employees and the situation of payroll and working conditions. However, he noted that due the temporary restraining order issued by the District Court for the NMI, the regulator is “prohibited from discussing what we have previously discussed every month, and that includes asking IPI for an update of just about everything that they do.”

The commission’s executive director, Andrew Yeom, informed commissioners on Thursday that, according to Reddie Dela Cruz, IPI’s senior human resources adviser, IPI’s payroll “is fully up-to-date” as of August 12, 2022, which was the last pay period.

The CCC wants to resume proceedings to revoke IPI’s licence. Yeom said that he was waiting for the federal court’s written order on the situation of the temporary restraining order “so that we can clearly understand the exact ruling and then we will decide our next course of action.”

IPI currently has seven security guards in Saipan and several administrative staff. Of the 17 security guards that Imperial Pacific International maintained in Saipan, ten are no longer on the books having either been fired or stopped working due to payment delays.

One guard told Mariana’s Variety he was working almost 24 hours a day to protect IPI’s casinos, luxury villas and unfinished hotel complex due to staff shortages.

Earlier this month,  DeLeon Guerrero said that the regulator would continue to exist were it to revoke the licence of the Northern Mariana Islands’ sole casino operator. In an interview with Mariana’s Variety, he said: “The CCC has the authority under Public Law 21-38 to issue another licence so it’s not like it’s game over.”

He added: “If things don’t work with Imperial Pacific International, we can still figure out a way to make the gaming industry a viable industry here in the Commonwealth.”