AUSTRALASIA 44
CNMI
Visa crisis looms over IPI construction Imperial Pacific International is facing further disruption at its unfinished Saipan property after new visa regulations further dried up the labor pool available to complete the long-delayed project.
T
he U.S. Department of State recently removed the Philippines from the list of qualifying countries for the U.S. H-2B worker visa program, along with the Dominican Republic and Ethiopia, due to concerns about overstaying. The Northern Mariana islands are a U.S. commonwealth in the Pacific Ocean, with a permanent population of about 55,000. As a result, the islands are heavily dependent on imported labor, especially in the trades, such as masons, plumbers and carpenters. There were a total of 844 H-2B visa holders working at the IPI construction site
but that figure would be slashed by almost half with the departure of the workers from the Philippines, which has been a great source of skilled labour for both the CNMI and Guam due to their geographic proximity. The State Department ban took effect on Jan. 19 and extends through to Jan. 18 next year. The decision, won’t affect workers who still have valid H-2B visas but they will no longer be eligible for an extension. There were already reports that petitions for Filipino nationals who were supposed to arrive to replace the workers that had expiring H-2B visas have been denied.
Visitor arrivals Year to date 96989
Islands to get reconstruction aid after super typhoon 37703
-61.1%
FY2018
FY2019
(Source: Marianas Visitors Authority)
Saipan and Tinian may receive about $100 million in aid to help recovery from the category-five Typhoon Yutu, which hit the islands last October. The Federal Emergency Management Agency said it had given more than $21 million to homeowners, and more than $70 million in low-interest loans to small business owners. Water supplies have been fully restored, while 82 percent of Saipan has electricity again. The storm caused the widespread cancellation of flights, dealing a heavy blow to the tourism industry.
IPI halted casinos ops due to technical glitch Imperial Pacific was forced to briefly halt casino operations in late January due to a problem with its surveillance systems. The shutdown lasted for about half a day, with the company saying concern for “safety” was the overriding factor behind the temporary closure. “Due to safety concerns, and because the casino had very little to no patrons in the early morning hours, the decision was made to close the casino until the surveillance system was operational,” it said. It was the second time the casino had been forced to close in three months, with operations suspended in November in the wake of Typhoon Yutu.
Asia Gaming Briefings | March 2019
In February, the Department of Labour granted Imperial Pacific’s request for exemption from a requirement that 30 percent of its construction workers come from the U.S. However, that won’t make up for the lack of Filipino labour. Granting the extension, CNMI Labor Secretary Vicky Benavente noted the difficulty in finding U.S. construction workers. Only about 1 percent of construction workers currently registered with the CNMI Department of Commerce are U.S. citizens. Hong Kong-listed Imperial Pacific won the license to operate Saipan’s only casino in 2014, with the ambitious project launched amidst much
