An old British-built sea wall on its site, which stands on reclaimed land, is among its problems. It delayed foundation works by three to four months, and then a shortage of labour and the rising cost of building materials also created setbacks.

When the Marina Bay project was awarded to Las Vegas Sands in 2006, its top executives announced that the entire resort would be ready by end 2009 - a departure from the industry practice of opening such mega projects in stages.ected to generate.

Read Lim Wei Chean's full story in Thursday's edition of The Straits Times.