{"id":87303,"date":"2018-09-04T12:00:57","date_gmt":"2018-09-04T19:00:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=87303"},"modified":"2018-09-04T14:45:34","modified_gmt":"2018-09-04T21:45:34","slug":"controversial-saipan-casino-project-delayed-by-over-three-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/controversial-saipan-casino-project-delayed-by-over-three-years\/","title":{"rendered":"Saipan Casino Developer Imperial Pacific Blames Lack of ‘Qualified’ Workers for Another Three-Year Delay on Pacific Island Project"},"content":{"rendered":"

Saipan’s controversial Grand Mariana Casino Hotel & Resort — currently under construction on the Pacific island and US territory — missed its completion deadline last week. On Monday, it was granted a new deadline by Saipan\u2019s Casino Control Commission: in three-and-a-half years\u2019 time. The casino\u2019s Chinese developer, Imperial Pacific, had initially hoped to finish the project back in 2016.<\/p>\n

\"Grand
Saipan casino project developers of the Grand Mariana say they’ve been set back by a dearth of skilled construction workers, but there’s more to the story. (Image: Moises Saman\/Bloomberg)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In a filing, Imperial Pacific said the delay was due to \u201cthe drastic reduction and non-availability of sufficient skilled and qualified construction laborers locally in Saipan and mainland USA.\u201d<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

Construction workers may have been put off by recent reports about conditions at the site. In 2017, one worker died after falling from a scaffold. Earlier this year, Bloomberg<\/em> visited the hospital on Saipan and discovered that so many workers had been injured during the construction of the casino that hospital staff kept an unofficial spreadsheet.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

It read like \u201ca grim catalog of broken bones, lacerations, puncture wounds, dislocated limbs, and eyes penetrated by flying metal,\u201d Bloomberg<\/em> reported.<\/p>\n

FBI Revelations<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The worker\u2019s death prompted an FBI investigation<\/a>, which revealed that many in the project’s workforce had been brought to Saipan from China without visas. Two contractors were charged with importing and harboring illegal aliens.<\/p>\n

The FBI\u2019s Wage and Hour Division then found that workers were paid less than the minimum wage — if they were paid at all — and had incurred debts of $6,000 or more each, because they had been required to pay their own plane fair and \u201crecruitment fees.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Four contractors were ordered to pay back wages and damages to over 2,400 workers, totaling some $13.9 million, as part of their settlement with the US Department of Labor.<\/p>\n

Billions in Wagers<\/strong><\/h2>\n

In March of this year, Imperial Pacific said in a filing that it was still raising money to complete the $600 million project.<\/p>\n

That’s despite the fact that the temporary casino erected in a small shopping mall — ostensibly to train dealers — reported revenues of $49.2 billion for 2017, far exceeding the VIP transaction volumes of most major casinos in Macau, the world\u2019s biggest gambling hub.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Even more staggering is the fact the Hong Kong-based developer has never developed or operated a casino before. Until recently, it was known as First Natural Foods Holdings Ltd., a company acquired by a mother and son who grew rich from the Macau junket industry and property investments.<\/p>\n

Imperial Pacific is currently suing Bloomberg<\/a> over an article that alleged financial improprieties on the island, which it vehemently denies.<\/p>\n

In return for the new building deadline extension, Imperial agreed to donate $500,000 to a healthcare organization on Saipan.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Saipan’s controversial Grand Mariana Casino Hotel & Resort — currently under construction on the Pacific island and US territory — missed its completion deadline last week. On Monday, it was granted a new deadline by Saipan\u2019s Casino Control Commission: in three-and-a-half years\u2019 time. The casino\u2019s Chinese developer, Imperial Pacific, had initially hoped to finish the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":87309,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[62,21,18],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nControversial Saipan Casino Project Delayed by Over Three Years<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Grand Mariana Casino Hotel & Resort developer Imperial Pacific receives three-year extension for completion of Saipan casino, blames lack of skilled construction force for delay.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/controversial-saipan-casino-project-delayed-by-over-three-years\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Controversial Saipan Casino Project Delayed by Over Three Years\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Grand Mariana Casino Hotel & Resort developer Imperial Pacific receives three-year extension for completion of Saipan casino, blames lack of skilled construction force for delay.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/controversial-saipan-casino-project-delayed-by-over-three-years\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-09-04T19:00:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-09-04T21:45:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/saipan.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@casinoorgphilc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/controversial-saipan-casino-project-delayed-by-over-three-years\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/controversial-saipan-casino-project-delayed-by-over-three-years\/\",\"name\":\"Controversial Saipan Casino Project Delayed by Over Three Years\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/controversial-saipan-casino-project-delayed-by-over-three-years\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/controversial-saipan-casino-project-delayed-by-over-three-years\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/saipan.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-09-04T19:00:57+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-09-04T21:45:34+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b\"},\"description\":\"Grand Mariana Casino Hotel & Resort developer Imperial Pacific receives three-year extension for completion of Saipan casino, blames lack of skilled construction force for delay.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/controversial-saipan-casino-project-delayed-by-over-three-years\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/controversial-saipan-casino-project-delayed-by-over-three-years\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/controversial-saipan-casino-project-delayed-by-over-three-years\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/saipan.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/saipan.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":800,\"caption\":\"The Grand Mariana Casino Hotel & Resort currently under construction on the Pacific island of Saipan has been hit by a dearth in skilled construction workers, although it\u2019s little wonder in light of recent events. 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