An Imperial Pacific International (CNMI) LLC lawyer told the Commonwealth Casino Commission last week that he is planning to propose an extension on the scheduled deadline of the Imperial Pacific Resort completion.<\/p>\n
IPI general counsel Philip J. Tydingco told commissioners last Thursday that he would be recommending that the Aug. 31, 2018, deadline for the completion of the casino-resort be extended.<\/p>\n
Commission executive director Edward Deleon Guerrero earlier reminded IPI executives that failure to come up with 329 rooms by the deadline would mean they would be in violation of the casino license agreement.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am fully aware of the obligations that we have, and that is why\u2026I will be recommending an extension,\u201d said Tydingco. <\/p>\n
He insists that his recommendation is not politically influenced but only \u201cgiven what the engineers and the contractors say we can achieve in a safe engineering manner.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201c[It] should be done in a safe engineering and constructional manner, so that is sort of the guiding principal,\u201d said Tydingco.<\/p>\n
The commission did not comment on the statement.<\/p>\n
IPI was recently approved 1,542 H2-B visas, with the workers expected to arrive in early March, according to IPI\u2019s Eric Poon, reporting to the commission. <\/p>\n
He added that the workers were sourced from the Philippines and Taiwan.<\/p>\n
He said that IPI currently has about 216 workers as a result of their recent contract signing with Pacific Rim Constructors in Guam and includes the project management team and engineers from the construction firm.<\/p>\n
A progress report from IPI submitted to the commission noted that work on the casino resort went down to sluggish rates after IPI\u2019s prime contractor, MCC International, left the island after it was learned that they used illegal workers.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are working\u2026to bring the [workers] on board as soon as possible. Hopefully the first batch [will arrive] at the beginning of March 2018,\u201d Poon noted. <\/p>\n
Poon\u2019s report did not specify how many H2-B visas IPI applied for and how many were denied. He noted that visas would all be used for the construction of the casino resort.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just want to move forward\u2026 [of course,] doing it right and emphasi[zing] safety,\u201d said Joseph Reyes, commission vice chair. \u201cLet\u2019s prove the [detractors] wrong.\u201d <\/p>\n
Poon responded, \u201c\u2026We want to show the whole\u2026world that we have an amazing project and we are going to have a 5-6 star hotel on Saipan.\u201d<\/p>\n
Poon added that IPI is currently in talks to add more shifts in a day to complete the construction by the deadline of August 2018.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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