Singapore casino opening is delayed
8th July, 2009
Singapore was planning to open its first casino at the end of this year but the chairman of the development, Sheldon Adelson, released a statement explaining that the opening will be put back several months due to a shortage of labour and materials.
Adelson said that the casino will welcome visitors early next year and explained “We seriously anticipate the opening date to be in January or February.” He told journalists that the flow and availability of resources and labour cannot be controlled and this is the reason for the delay.
Adelson confirmed that the total cost of Singapore’s first casino is 8 billion Singapore dollars (£3.4 billion). The project includes the development of not just an extensive gaming hall but will also include a hotel, retail and performing arts facilities.
Competition is creeping up with a second casino called Resorts World at Sentosa, which has plans to open at the start of 2010 and will hold the world’s largest oceanarium featuring 700,000 fish and a Universal Studios theme park.
Las Vegas Sands have agreed that if over half of the project is complete then the casino would begin commercial operations before the end of this year. It was 2005 that the approvals for casinos in the country were allowed in a bid to try and attract more visitors, but it looks like it will still be a while until the results of success can be measured!
By Gina
