Delays caused by illegal hires
Imperial Pacific International, owner and operator of the Imperial Pacific Resort on the island of Saipan, has confirmed that it will not complete construction of the integrated resort by the current deadline, August 31.
Inside Asian Gaming reports that the company now is pressing for a new deadline in December, but that the company is planning to add another shift to speed the work.
IPI’s Vice President for Construction Eric Poon told the Commonwealth Casino Commission that the development “experienced a big jump and we are trying to do everything and get ready for the inspection by the end of the year. Overall, our focus is on three areas: the resort hotel, the hotel tower that includes the building facade and roof and the external works which in front of the hotel lobby.”
According to the Saipan Tribune, Poon said the work is 68 percent complete. Construction stopped recently when lawmakers discovered that IPI’s former contractors, MCC, Beleida and Gold Mantis, had hired more than 2,000 illegal workers. The company then hired a new contractor, Pacific Rim to rebuild the workforce.
Under IPI’s casino license agreement, a minimum of 329 hotel rooms, 14,140 square meters (152,000 square feet) of gaming area and other parts of the resort must be finished no later than August 31.
CCC Executive Director Edward Deleon Guerrero put the heat on last month, saying IPI needed to “identify how much more time they need because August is right around the corner.
“Any changes in the agreement require us to go back and change our own regulations,” he said.
Poon responded that construction has “been taking a very long time but we are almost there.”
He said that added shifts were being considered.
“Right now, we already notified the people concerned about the possibility of nightshift work,” Poon said. “The exact date we still have to iron out with Pacific Rim because right now, we have to put the safety features needed especially at night before we put a date for the second (work) shift.”
