Landing International Development Ltd has denied reports it has already begun construction work on its proposed US$1.5 billion Philippines integrated resort, but the company says it is still aiming to open by 2022.
In a written statement sent to Inside Asian Gaming on Monday, a Landing spokesperson insisted that, “Other than site hoarding and clearing of the land, we have not commenced any construction works since our ground breaking on 7 August. The construction equipment that the news article referred to including the bulldozers, cement mixers and batching plant belong to another adjacent site, which is unrelated to us.”
The Philippine Star had previously reported that work had begun on the IR, to be named NayonLanding, last week with “bulldozers, backhoes, graders, cement mixers and dump trucks” in use, “about 50 workmen, some uniformed … busy with tools” and a concrete batching plant running “full-blast onsite.”
Landing’s 7 August groundbreaking ceremony was overshadowed by the news that Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte had fired the entire board of the company’s local partner, Nayon Pilipino Foundation, over what he described as a “grossly disadvantageous” land lease deal said to be costing the government around Php517 million per year over the course of the 50-year lease.
Duterte has subsequently ordered the Department of Justice to review the deal and stated last week he would not allow any new casinos to be built in the Philippines.
Despite the President’s stance, Landing told IAG on Monday that it “still maintains the target to open the project in 2022.”
RelatedPosts
