IPI pays workers after a week’s delay

Imperial Pacific has reported that it has paid the 17 security guards at its unfinished casino hotel in Garapan.

Northern Mariana Islands.- After a week’s delay Imperial Pacific International (IPI) has paid its workers in Garapan. The company says it paid the 17 security guards who work at the unfinished Imperial Pacific International Casino Hotel on Monday.

Of the 15 in-house construction workers, only those earning less than $1,000 per payday had been paid. 

IPI’s current employees, including eight administrative staff, were due to be paid on February 25, but IPI issued a notice informing them that due to challenges, payroll payments for the period from February 7 to 20 were going to be delayed until further notice.

The company has been facing financial difficulties since the closure of the Imperial Pacific Resort in Garapan in March 2020. The company’s gaming licence was then suspended indefinitely as the operator failed to comply with regulatory orders.

Regulators will hold a series of meetings this month to decide the fate of the company’s monopoly casino licence.