Ten days after a construction worker fell 33 feet to his death and all building activities on the $4.6 billion Grand Lisboa Palace in Macau reportedly remain suspended pending the outcome of an official investigation being conducted by the enclave’s Labour Affairs Bureau.
According to a report from GGRAsia, the June 18 incident saw a 47-year-old worker from mainland China lose his life while property owner SJM Holdings Limited revealed that it was unable to specify when construction on the 2,000-room Cotai Strip property would resume.
“SJM [Holdings Limited] is cooperating with the Labour Affairs Bureau for the investigation being carried out,” read a statement from SJM Holdings Limited, which is responsible for 19 gambling properties in the former Portuguese enclave including Casino Oceanus at Jai Alai, Grand Lisboa Macau, Babylon Casino, L’Arc Macau and Casino Golden Dragon. “SJM [Holdings Limited] is greatly saddened by the accident and extends its deepest condolences to the worker’s family. The company is now assisting the contractor in making arrangement with the worker’s family on the compensation issue.”
The Grand Lisboa Palace reportedly began rising from a 17-acre plot of land in February of 2014 and is expected to welcome its first guests during the second half of next year. Being built to compete with other nearby integrated casino resorts such as the $3.2 billion Studio City Macau development from Melco Resorts and Entertainment Limited as well as Sands China Limited’s $2.4 billion The Venetian Macao, the property is due to feature meeting and conference venues as well as shopping, dining and entertainment facilities while its gambling floor is set to offer approximately 1,000 slots alongside some 700 gaming tables.
“We will continue to conduct frequent inspections and [ensure a] safe working cycle [and] provide safety training as well as tightening supervision to ensure strict compliance to all safety requirements by all our contractors/subcontractors at the site [in order] to protect our workers,” read the statement from SJM Holdings Limited.