Alter City eyes Q2 of 2015 for groundbreaking

Even before the first bulldozers could clear the area, Alter City Group’s $360-million casino resort project at Puntan Diablo on Tinian is proving to be a devil of a job.

The Macau-based company’s chief executive officer Edvon Sze and executive vice president Ken Lin, together with local counsel Robert Torres, attended a joint session of the House Committee on Natural Resources and Senate Committee on Resources, Economic Development and Programs at the lower chamber last Thursday.

And one thing was made abundantly clear during the proceedings: The open dumpsite right smack where Alter City is planning to build its 18-hole golf course is proving to be the major sticking point in the company moving forward with its land lease deal with the Department of Public Lands.

While the Inos administration has already signed off on DPL’s land lease deal with Alter City, the agreement still needs the Legislature’s final approval.

“With the size of the development there’s no way you can make a decision on one night. A lot of it is a step-by-step process. It’s very important for us to be transparent and everyone work together and target the task together. The most essential factor is to work with the local government especially on this dumpsite issue,” Lin said in an interview with reporters after the joint session.

The Alter City official said if CNMI government agencies expedite the permitting process, they are ready to start Phase I of construction as early as June 2015.

“[We hope to] break ground on the 500-room hotel in the second quarter of 2015, which is [from] June to September. After six months, if the permitting is complete, we can then [start] on to building the 18-hole golf course in 75 hectares of land.”

Lin also clarified that while Alter City can start construction of the 500-room hotel, there is no way the company can begin on the golf course with the landfill still not relocated from Puntan Diablo.

“[The] hotel is a little off the dumpsite and hopefully that can go on simultaneously [with the relocation of the dumpsite]. But the hotel can’t be opened if the dumpsite is still around. The three-year permitting process actually gives us some leeway. We’re looking at opening in four years’ time. With the magnitude of project we’d be lucky if we get the building completed in three years’ time.”

Lin said the success and failure of Alter City’s $360-million casino resort hinges on how quickly the CNMI government relocates the open dumpsite.

“When we first saw this land three or four years ago, we understood that it was a beautiful site except for the dumpsite. We’ve been actually working with the Tinian municipality on how to find the best way to address this issue. [The] outcome today is very good and very positive, especially on the landfill issue,” he said. “It’s a gorgeous site. It’s a beautiful, beautiful site. Dumpsite is not a given. If this dumpsite is forever there, we’ll probably just take half of it. But we realized that this dumpsite is not even certified and is only temporary. DPL and the government assured us that the dumpsite will be moved and that’s why we signed the lease.”

Alter City also promised that once the land lease deal with DPL is formalized, the company would begin negotiations with the Tinian Gaming and Casino Commission for a casino license.

Torres, for his part, urged the Legislature to make sure that the 19th and 20th legislatures will continue to fund the relocation of the dumpsite on Tinian because the $6.5 million in Capital Improvement Project funds for fiscal year 2015 is not enough.

Tinian Mayor Ramon Dela Cruz, meanwhile, said his office has already been in touch with Marianas Forces Pacific on the most suitable place to relocate the dumpsite.

Currently, he said the most promising site is the Tinian quarry and that it would take them 18 months to effectuate the relocation. He, however, said that Tinian CIP funding shouldn’t be the sole source of the relocation, since most of the money is already appropriated for other projects.

Dela Cruz also said the Tinian dumpsite is not his municipality’s responsibility alone but the whole CNMI’s problem and thus its relocation should come out of the general fund.