The V.I. Casino Control Commission will decide on Monday whether it will issue the operators of the territory’s first casino their certificate of operation.
If the Divi Carina Bay Resort and Casino on St. Croix receives approval, a ribbon-cutting will be held on March 14 and the doors of the casino will open to the public on March 17. Prior to next Monday’s meeting, the casino-resort must post a $1.5 million performance bond to ensure that it meets all the requirements of the V.I. Casino Control Act, including additional hotel rooms.
Before gaming can begin, the casino license holder must submit a list to the CCC so it can review 17 specific areas regarding operations, including accounting controls, collection and securing money, redemption of chips, opening and securing slot machines, handling and storage of casino equipment, salary structure and personnel practices.
"Prior to opening we will have to have all these procedures in place," said Eileen Petersen, chairwoman of the CCC.
Petersen said the commission had finally received access to the Casino Revolving Fund, which contains revenue from application and licensing fees. Access to the $100,000 fund was crucial because the commission must pay approximately $40,000 to an outside company to inspect the 300 slot machines at the Divi casino before it opens.
Of the fund’s $60,000 balance, $50,000 is earmarked for gaming enforcement while $6,000 will be used to outfit the commission’s gaming enforcement office within the casino.
Commissioner Lloyd McAlpin said that as of Feb. 25, the hotel-casino had hired 222 people. Of that number, 77 percent, or 172, are Virgin Islanders. The Casino Control Act states that at the end of the first year of operation, 65 percent of the employees at a resort-casino must be bona fide residents. The figure rises to 75 percent at the end of the second year and to 90 percent at the end of three years.
The act defines a resident as someone who has been living continuously in the V.I. for five years, or a native-born Virgin Islander.
The numbers reported by McAlpin Monday gave Petersen a chance once again to refute allegations from certain sectors of the island that the Divi wasn’t complying with local hiring laws. While McAlpin said the commission isn’t keeping track of hiring at the hotel-casino by race, Petersen emphasized that the law doesn’t call for it.
"People who have lived here more than five years don’t have to be of any one color," said Petersen. "The law says bona fide residents. It doesn’t say black bona fide residents nor white bona fide residents."
In other CCC action, commissioners approved a plan to deal with the possible fallout associated with casino gambling. The commission – in conjunction with the Department of Health’s Mental Health Division, the Department of Human Services, V.I. Partners in Recovery, and the Divi resort – will develop a plan that will address aspects of problem gambling.
The plan is based on one used in Missouri, said McAlpin. It will focus on increasing public awareness of possible problems and the fact that problems can be addressed through intervention. Initial funding will come from the National Council on Problem Gaming.
"It is by no means a complete plan," McAlpin said. "But the beginning of an effective one."
