In Nepal and some 400 workers at the gambling-friendly Tiger Palace Resort Bhairahawa have reportedly had their employment terminated owing to the ongoing financial woes of the facility’s owner, Silver Heritage Group Limited.

According to a report from Inside Asian Gaming citing an earlier story from The Kathmandu Post newspaper, the five-star venue became the scene of protests last week after the Sydney-listed operator sent out an e-mail detailing that it would not be renewing any of its local staffing contracts. The source explained that this move affected those employed at the level of a general manager level or below but exempted any foreign-born staff.

Coronavirus consequences:

Silver Heritage Group Limited is moreover responsible for gaming operations at The Millionaire’s Club and Casino inside Kathmandu’s Shangri La Hotel and Resort but was forced to temporarily shutter both of its Nepalese venues from March 23 due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The Australian firm then purportedly entered voluntary administration only a few months after it had been granted a $1 million loan by hedge fund specialist OCP Asia.

Operator optimism:

However, Silver Heritage Group Limited’s future prospects seemed to have improved last month when it reportedly agreed to consider a shareholder-dependant recapitalization proposal. This plan was purportedly later executed meaning that the operator could receive a fresh cash injection worth as much as $389,000 by November.

Problematic premiere:

Silver Heritage Group Limited reportedly opened its Tiger Palace Resort Bhairahawa development in December of 2017 following a lengthy delay that had caused the project’s overall budget to bulge by approximately $12 million. The 23.5-acre facility is located only about seven miles from the Nepalese border with India and purportedly premiered complete with a 100-room hotel alongside a 26,597 sq ft casino offering some 200 slots as well as 52 gaming tables.

Root reason:

Established in 2003, Silver Heritage is reportedly still coming to terms with the loss of the contract that had seen it operate the casino inside northern Vietnam’s Phoenix International Club. This blow reportedly occurred in March of last year owing to a change in its landlord’s licensing conditions and immediately saw the firm lose around 45% of its revenues.