Saipan casino operator Imperial Pacific International (IPI) could ask for a further extension on its time frame for completion of Imperial Pacific Resort, according to Executive Director of the Commonwealth Casino Commission Edward Deleon Guerrero.
As reported by Marianas Variety, Guerrero met with IPI officials late last week where he asked for a progress report on construction of the 329-room integrated resort, which is due to be completed by 31 August 2018 under the revised Casino License Agreement signed last August.
“Based on the preliminary information that we received, [IPI contractor] Pacific Rim said they will complete 250 rooms by August 2018 but for the remaining 79 rooms, they are consulting with IPI to determine a safe time to complete them,” Guerrero said.
“Pacific Rim is now consulting with IPI to determine whether there is a need for IPI to ask for an extension or not.”
News of possible further delays comes less than a year after IPI was granted a 10-month extension through to August this year after construction was delayed by Typhoon Soudelor, which caused extensive damage in 2015.
Since then IPI has been embroiled in a major scandal involving the use of 2,000 illegal workers by its former contractors MCC, Beleida and Gold Mantis.
The company recently hired Pacific Rim instead which has begun bringing in a new, legal workforce – primarily from the Philippines and Taiwan.
Nevertheless, Guerrero said that IPI would have to provide good reason for any further extension to be granted.
“Among the reasons is lack of skilled labor but that has been resolved already and it’s just a matter of time before all of them will show up,” he said. “Some are already here and more are showing up next week.”
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