The mayor of Rota in the Northern Marianas says it's hoped the construction of a new casino will revitalise the island's tourism industry, and could provide up to a thousand new jobs.
The company JMSH has announced its plans for the Rota Casino and Hotel, which it says will bring up to 20 million US dollars in tax income to Rota, and the CNMI.
The Rota mayor, Melchor Mendiola, says as well as taxation benefits, Rota is expecting visitor numbers to jump from 3,600 a year to 20 thousand visitors a year.
He says there will also be plenty of employment opportunity for locals.
"It will reduce our unemployment rate to perhaps 75 percent, but we need also to train our people, qualify for the positions as these are professional positions. But it provides an opportunity for our local people to be employed. There's gonna be a requirement of a thousand personnel, but it depends on the qualification of our local people."
Melchor Mendiola says job applications are being accepted from October, and educational programmes will be opened up to train locals so they can qualify for positions.
