IR on target for year-end opening, says Sands

Source : Straits Times - 5 Mar 2009

THE Marina Bay Sands integrated resort (IR) will open by year-end, as scheduled, its top suits said yesterday.

It may not look like it to the casual passer-by, but despite the expanse of cranes and other construction equipment at the site, 75 per cent of the building’s structural work is already done.

Giving this assurance yesterday on a site tour for the media, top executives of the IR, several of whom flew in from Las Vegas, said that though construction has just hit the halfway point, much of the hard work has already been done.

Mr Matthew Pryor, the Venetian Macau’s senior vice-president of Asia construction, who also oversees the Singapore works, pointed out that 28 out of 55 floors of the three iconic hotel structures have been completed.

The tough part of the work on this section was securing the sloping section of the hotel towers, but now that this has been done, ’stacking floors atop each other’ will be fairly straightforward, he said.

Five to six floors of the hotels will be built monthly until July, when the blocks will be topped off.

Elsewhere, the four-storey casino building is only awaiting its roof, while there is only the fifth and final floor left to build for the meetings and convention block.

Mr Nigel Roberts, the IR’s president, said: ‘Everyone is working aggressively towards our target opening date. This is our total focus, and we are confident of delivering on all fronts.’

Mr George Tanasijevich, the general manager of Marina Bay Sands, said the apparent lack of visible construction progress on the project had led many to question if it was on schedule.

There were also worries that the impact of the global financial crisis on the books of the parent company, Las Vegas Sands, would sink the project.

But new funds were raised last year, and assurances have been given by top management that the Marina Bay Sands - which the group has described as its crowning jewel in Asia - would be completed as scheduled, even if it is at the expense of its other projects.

Mr Tanasijevich said another reason much construction was not visible was that over 40 per cent of work was done underground. There was a delay, he admitted, because an obstruction - an old sea wall - had been discovered, but this had been taken care of.

Despite their assurances that construction will be completed on time, however, what will be ready for business when the end of the year rolls around remains to be seen.

Marina Bay Sands is still in the midst of negotiating the opening schedule with the Singapore Government.

Yesterday, Mr Tanasijevich would only say that details would be announced in ‘due course’.

But he added that it will try to open sections of all areas of the IR - the retail mall, the meetings and conventions space, the casino and the hotel, so visitors can sample a little of everything.

As for the IR’s prospects in a time of falling tourist numbers - arrivals for this year are expected to drop by between 6 per cent and 11 per cent, to between 9 and 9.5 million people - Mr Roberts said he is confident it will pack in the crowds.

‘Despite the economic conditions, people will still want to come and look at this.’