Regulatory agencies will meet today to decide to whether or not grant a permit for Best Sunshine International, Ltd. for a hotel and casino that the firm is building in Garapan.<\/p>\n
The agencies include the Division of Coastal Resources Management and Bureau of Environmental and Coastal Quality.<\/p>\n
Fran Castro, DCRM director, said the decision will be made by voting, after a public hearing yesterday for BSI\u2019s proposed development called the \u201cGrand Marianas Casino Resort.\u201d<\/p>\n
The DCRM certified BSI\u2019s major siting application earlier this month.<\/p>\n
Yesterday\u2019s public hearing for BSI\u2019s proposed 14-story casino resort in the heart of Garapan at the Pedro P. Tenorio Multi-Purpose Center in Susupe drew a sizable crowd.<\/p>\n
According to Castro, most of the oral testimonies were in favor of the BSI project, while a handful were opposed to it.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe conducted this hearing to gather public comments on the proposed development. Most of the comments were in favor of the project,\u201d Castro said.<\/p>\n
The opposing comments focused on a portion of the lot area that the proposed hotel will rise. The portion is said to house ancient burial grounds.<\/p>\n
Most of the public comments agree that the BSI hotel and casino will have immense economic impact on the CNMI, particularly for employment.<\/p>\n
Mark Brown, CEO of BSI, said the company expects to hire more than 2,000 employees for the hotel and casino resort.<\/p>\n
Aside from employment, BSI has also pledged, and has actually started undertaking infrastructure projects including Hibiscus St., which will be widened and paved.<\/p>\n
A more significant project is a 10,000-foot sewerage system that BSI also plans to complete, as part of its waste disposal system.<\/p>\n
BSI also touted that it will connect to the power grid, thus becoming a high-paying subscriber of the local utilities firm.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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