$M game hitch

Felix Chaudhary
Friday, November 09, 2012

DEVELOPERS of the country's first casino revealed that construction would begin once financial issues were sorted out.

One Hundred Sands director customer experience Greg Schillinger said financing the project had proven to be a mammoth task but negotiations were progressing.

"We're in the midst of getting our financing organised and construction should begin within 30 days," he said.

"People need to understand that there are some very complicated processes involved and that this is a complicated financial deal and there's many more hoops to jump through than anticipated.

"We are hopeful that construction will begin soon but cannot give a definite date as when exactly that will happen."

Tourism permanent secretary Elizabeth Powell said the ministry was aware that financing issues were holding back the start of construction.

"We are aware that they (One Hundred Sands) are sorting things out and look forward to the start of our first ever casino which is exciting for Fiji and will add another dimension to our tourism market," she said.

Ms Powell said while the Tourism Ministry was optimistic that all would go well, they would be looking at further discussions with the developers should financing the operation continued to be an issue.

One Hundred Sands was granted a gaming licence in December last year and construction of the $290million project on Denarau, Nadi, was scheduled to begin after the groundbreaking ceremony in April this year.