THE Marina Bay Sands (MBS) integrated resort will open in January or February, and not the end of this year as previously announced. News of the delay came from the top on Wednesday: Las Vegas Sands (LVS) chairman and chief executive officer Sheldon Adelson.

In a ceremony to mark a construction milestone - building has reached the top of the 55-storey hotel blocks - Mr Adelson said the opening had been put back because of a shortage of manpower and materials.

As recently as March, MBS' head honchos, including the IR's president Nigel Roberts, said they were confident the US$5.4 billion (S$7.8 billion) project was 'on track for a soft opening by end of the year'.

On Wednesday, however, Mr Adelson admitted to difficulties in completing the project. He said: 'We can't control the flow of sand to make concrete with, we can't control the availability of steel...and we can't control the availability of labour due to other projects that are in the market.'

Financing was not an issue, although Mr Adelson said several times yesterday that the Singapore project was very expensive.

But industry insiders told The Straits Times that part of MBS' problem is that, as a foreign company with little local or regional contacts, it has had no choice but to fork out top-dollar for materials.

Despite the setback and current economic conditions, the casino baron remains very bullish on the potential of the IR. He said he had every expectation that it would help Singapore achieve its 2015 tourism target of 17 million visitors spending $30 billion.

In updating MBS' timeline for opening on Wednesday, Mr Adelson said that at least 50 per cent of the resort - including some hotel rooms, the restaurants, casino and much of the meetings and conventions facilities - will be ready for a 'soft opening' early next year. The rest of the IR will be up and running two to three months after, he said.

Giving an update on the construction of the resort, LVS president and chief operating officer Michael Leven said yesterday that engineers were expected to begin work on the iconic sky park next month. Lifting the various pieces of the park - some as heavy as 500 tonnes - to the top of the three hotel blocks, which are 200m above ground, will take some 90 days, he said.

Though delayed, Marina Bay Sands - the first IR project awarded here - will be fully operational before its Sentosa counterpart.

Read the full story in Thursday's edition of The Straits Times