57 employees terminated from Golden Princess Casino

Last Friday, the Golden Princess Casino located at the Northern border closed its doors. The news was immediate cause for concern, particularly so because reports were that as many as one hundred and thirty Belizeans had been laid off.  Today, News Five has gotten confirmation on the actual figures, which are not as high as earlier reporter, but bad news anyway. Fifty-seven persons have been laid off, and sources inside the Princess told us that the terminations were across the board from all departments, including management. Ninety-six persons have been transferred to another casino at the border operated by the Princess Group. We understand that the decision was a hard one to make and delayed as long as possible. Sources tell us that there were a variety of reasons. Business had been slow for some time, we are told, because of the new bridge to Mexico which bypassed the casinos. So they lost that regular flow of traffic. We are also told that the high rent had become prohibitively so. Today things were quiet at the casinos. At the Golden Princess, staff was in the process of packing up and carting out equipment. Most of the machines have been transferred to the nearby casino. Late this evening News Five confirmed that all final payments due to the fifty-seven staff members who were laid off are ready, but have been put on hold by Labour commissioner Ivan Williams. Because of the time we were unable to speak to Williams for clarification, but we have been told that the Labour Department in Corozal was involved in the calculation of the payments. So at this time, there is apparently some confusion as to why the payments have been stopped. We’ll keep following this story.