SINGAPORE: Las Vegas Sands, squeezed by a global credit crunch, has asked to open its Singapore casino complex in stages instead of in one go at the end of next year, the city-state’s government said yesterday.
The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) said it was considering a proposal by Las Vegas Sands for the complex to be opened progressively from the end of 2009.
“As discussions are still under way, we are not able to provide more details,” STB deputy chairman and chief executive Lim Neo Chian said in a statement.
But Stephen Weaver, the head of Las Vegas Sands Asia, said in Macau that the company had run into construction difficulties.
“We were delayed a little in the construction. We ran into some foundation problems with an old sea wall,” he said.
Las Vegas Sands, headed by gaming tycoon Sheldon Adelson, on Tuesday announced a halt to some developments in the southern Chinese gambling enclave of Macau due to trouble accessing credit during the global financial crisis.
Around 11,000 construction workers are to lose their jobs as a result, Weaver said yesterday.
But Las Vegas Sands said this week that completion of the Singapore project remains its top priority.
The company said it was “in the process of” raising an additional US$2 billion in funding commitments.
Las Vegas Sands’ announcement was an assurance that the company has enough resources to fund the Singapore project, known as Marina Bay Sands, Singapore’s Senior Minister of State S. Iswaran was quoted as saying Wednesday.
“As part of my visit to Singapore last week, I assured the government we were very committed to the success of Marina Bay Sands and would have the funding necessary to complete this development,” Adelson said.
“That is exactly where we stand today.”
The Casino Regulatory Authority of Singapore has allowed Las Vegas Sands to raise its original gaming table count to 1,000 from 600.
Two massive casino complexes, including the Marina Bay Sands, are under construction as part of Singapore’s plans to lift its tourism sector.
Malaysia’s Genting International is developing the other project on Sentosa island. - AFP
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