Gamblers’ den

BIG time casino gambling may come to the small Northern Marianas island of Tinian as a result of a November vote by its residents.

Tinian s people, who sense they do not share the prosperity of neighbouring Saipan, voted 459 yes to 63 no when asked to authorise the establishment of such a casino. They regarded it as a major potential source for jobs.

Meanwhile another vote in the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas showed that the voters were overwhelmingly in favour of banning all forms of gambling, but because of the special majority needed in such cases, the referendum failed.

I he referendum was on and off the ballot several times, as the courts made several different rulings. Finally, the I erritorial Supreme Court ruled in favour of a vote, and the islanders split 4610 for abolition of gambling to 2894 in favour of its retention. This healthy margin was not enough, however, to make the vote binding. In the Marianas such issues must be carried not only by a majority of the voters, but also by at least two-thirds of the voters in each of two of the territory’s three senate districts. (These are Rota, Tinian and Saipan and

the largely uninhabited northern is lands). Voters in Tinian, consistent with their interest in a casino, voted against the Commonwealth referendum, while

large, but not large enough, majorities

voted for the gambling ban on the other two islands.

The principal form of commercial gambling in the islands are the omni present poker machines; you feed it coins, and play five-card draw poker.

Some people, including the Catholic Church, regard gambling as a social dis ease.

The passage of the Tinian referendum will test the powers of local government within the Commonwealth, and will set up an interesting series of conflicts which probably will wind up in the courts. Tinian, like the other two islands, has its own mayor and local government, so a structure is in place to handle the issues that a casino will create.

On the other hand, there are strong concerns expressed elsewhere in the Commonwealth that the little island will be overwhelmed by both the major financial interests (probably Japanese) needed to build the casino, and by the criminal elements that often accompany casino gambling. □