The largest island of the Northern Mariana Islands is Saipan and is it is known, the gambling industry there is developing at a rapid pace. The current project which currently under construction is the luxurious Imperial Pacific Resort and Casino, but as it turns out the construction workers developing on site and the potential future employees continue having visa issues.
The new casino resort which is currently being constructed will have as many as 329 rooms available for booking at its launch. According to the initial plans of the developing company, the facility was supposed to see its official launch by the end of August, but as it turns out the construction is going to need more time in order to be finalized. The lawyer who presents the company stated that the need has arisen since the developer wants to guarantee a safe completion of the project, and this will result in more work.
According to the official announcement the future gambling location is estimated to cost as much as half a billion to its developer, but regardless of that, there are still previous issues lingering around the gambling venue. One of them is related to the construction workers which participate in the building process. As it turns out the casino developer Hong Kong-listed Imperial Pacific International is finding it hard to attract workers from the United States in order to reach the previously set quota. In turn, the completion of the casino resort located in Saipan is being slowed down.
Uncertain Future for the US Workers
One of the reasons for this to be happening is that the United States, on the other hand, is considering cutting down the number of temporary CW-1 visas available. The workers employed in the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands utilize them. The month of April saw as many as 1,468 active workers hired to finish the luxurious casino resort, however, only 44 percent of them were citizens of the United States.
One of the clauses in the casino license arrangement of Imperial Pacific International states that the minimum percentage of employees coming from the United States is 65. This information was filed in the Commonwealth Casino Commission and it is the main reason that causes concern at the moment as the current state equals an infringement of the agreement. It has been confirmed that next year there will be only 4,999 foreign worker slots available at the CNMI.
When compared to previous years this is a significantly smaller number, but there is also the possibility that the entire batch of foreign worker slots could be removed as a practice after 2019. Bringing this uncertainty into the field is what has driven many current workers away, as they wish to know whether they could rely on their positions in the long term.
Some of them have already decided to put an end to their employment and this, in turn, affects the future operation of the casino resort, as there is a shortage of skilled staff. The initial plan for the operation of the casino venue is to have as many as 10 gaming tables on offer, but if there are not enough employees their number will have to be reduced.
