CNMI casino developer to focus on villas before hotel

11:35 am on 25 July 2017

A casino developer on Saipan in the Northern Marianas said a shortage of manpower means it has to delay plans to finish its five star hotel.

Imperial Pacific Resort

Imperial Pacific Resort Photo: RNZI/Mark Rabago

Imperial Pacific's casino was opened earlier this month while the adjacent hotel is some way off being complete.

But the company said it is going to go ahead and construct 15 villas as well as complete the second floor gaming room and the restaurant at the casino before continuing work on the hotel.

The Hong Kong based company said a lack of manpower is the reason it has to delay the hotel work.

It is aiming to have the villas built by January next year and the restaurant finished in a month.

Imperial Pacific said it is limited to using only about 500 construction workers.

Get the RNZ app

for ad-free news and current affairs