Imperial Pacific International, parent company of Best Sunshine International.
Photo: Supplied
The contempt order against IPI and Cui Li Jie and decision to stop work was issued by the US District Court for the NMI.
The move came as the court sought to ensure the exclusive Saipan casino licensee complied with sanctions, which included paying the last few months of payroll totaling over $US3 million, restoring power and water to employee housing, and providing food to employees in the units.
Exempted from the stop-work order are administrative employees in charge of processing payroll and property security.
IPI and Cui have been called to return to court on 28 January for a status conference to determine if the company has complied and whether or not to lift the order.
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Imperial Pacific International chief engineer Eric Poon listens during the Commonwealth Casino Commission meeting on Wednesday.Â
Photo by Emmanuel T. Erediano
It was the third stop work order that DPW has issued against IPI. The first was issued on Oct. 9, 2020, and the second was on Dec. 29. Both were due to lack of engineers of record or EORs and safety inspector.
DPW said it issued the third stop work order because 15 days had already passed and IPI still had not complied with the requirement to have EORs and safety inspector at the job site.
Commonwealth Casino Commission Executive Director Andrew Yeom on Wednesday reminded IPI chief engineer Eric Poon that the Casino License Agreement Amendment No. 6 gives IPI until Feb. 28, 2021 to finish the hotel-casino project in Garapan.
IMPERIAL Pacific International LLC, IPI Holdings Ltd. and IPI chairwoman Cui Li Jie are in contempt of court for violating the previously entered consent judgment, and not paying current IPI employees for over two months, District Court for the NMI Chief Judge Ramona V. Manglona ruled on Thursday.
She issued a one-week stop work order at IPIâs hotel-casino construction site in Garapan, but excluded administrative and security personnel from the order.
The administrative personnel will process the payroll for IPI employees, while the security personnel will secure the construction site.
Cui Li Jie, through an interpreter, told the court that the payroll funds were arriving from Guam Thursday, and that utilities would be immediately restored at IPIâs staff housing units.
DISTRICT Court for the NMI Chief Judge Ramona V. Manglona found Imperial Pacific International LLC IPI Holdings Ltd and its chairwoman Cui Li Jie in contempt of court for violating