Any port in a storm , Tinian casino hits a snag
Saipan ? The Tinian Ocean View Resort and Casino is up and ready to open , but that depends on whether or not the CNMI government would allow it to open at all .
Bridge Investment Group , the casino ? s developer , said it has spent more than $ 13 million on the relocation and construction of the casino facilities since 2014 .
But the opening of the casino ? built on a portion of the Tinian Harbor leased from the Commonwealth Ports Authority ? has been put on hold due to a regulatory barrier .
Permitting CNMI agencies refused to issue BIG a master siting permit for Tinian Ocean View , saying the proposed activities at the facilities did not meet the technical definition of ? port-related activities .?
As far as BIG is concerned , the project has all the elements that would qualify it as a port-related undertaking . The project ? is in the ? highest ? use category because it involves activities on the APC shoreline . The casino will serve as a hotel accommodation for passengers who arrive on Tinian via the ferry .
BIG said the first phase of construction is a ferry terminal that will provide roll-on / roll-off of vehicle services for Tinian residents that will address the lack of consistent flights to the island and will assist BIG with meeting the needs of BIG ? s customers .
The law is not ambiguous : the Tinian Ocean View Resort and Casino is a ? project ? and that the ferry is undeniably a port-related activity ,? reads the online launched by BIG last month on change . org . ( Pacific Island Times News Staff )
Solomon Islands gear up for elections
Honiara ? Registration for the 2018 elections in Solomon Islands will start in June , according to Minister for Home Affairs and Deputy Prime Minister Manasseh Maelanga .
Maelanga said the current national budget does not have allocation for the registration but funds will be made available through a supplementary budget .
He said the issue of absentee voting is currently in its consultation process , with electoral officers visiting all provinces to discuss the matter before considering it in their reforms for the next elections .
Almost 300,000 people , many of them first-time voters , were eligible to cast their ballots for the 400 candidates vying for 50 seats at that time .
The last election was seen as a test of the country ' s stability after the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands ( RAMSI ) spent 10 years and $ 2.6 billion ( US $ 333 million ) restoring law and order following ethnic violence .
RAMSI has also brought in almost 100 officers from Australia , New Zealand , the Cook Islands , Vanuatu ,
Manasseh Maelanga
Papua New Guinea , Tonga and Tuvalu as a contingency . This coming election will be the first since RAMSI departs Solomon Islands this coming June . ( Solomon Star / PacNews )
The 2018 national general election is likely to be held toward the end of next year . The last election was conducted on Nov . 19 , 2014 .
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