Punj Lloyd arm scraps $4.9-bn Australian resort project

Singapore's Sembawang Engineers and Constructors, part of India's Punj Lloyd Group said yesterday that the company has abandoned an iconic resort project in Australia's Gold Coast on the grounds that the city's mayor said a casino was not required to be part of the proposal.

The $4.9-billion mega project, on the Wavebreak Island originally included cruise ship terminals, casino, marine facilities, hotels, apartments, parkland and fishermen's wharf. Gold Coast's Mayor Tom Tate however, declared the casino was unnecessary for the development.

In a statement, Sembawang said that it will complete and publish an economic feasibility study to prove a casino was necessary for the financial sustainability of the proposed development.

Sembawang CEO and president Ric Grosvenor said, ''From the outset, Sembawang declared that Wavebreak, an iconic global project, could be delivered without any impact on the public purse. We also made it clear that the casino component of the mixed-use development was critical to this method of delivery.''

''The public understood this fact - unfortunately the political side did not and, therefore, there is no point in pursuing Wavebreak. It is with great disappointment that I must end further planning for Wavebreak,'' Grosvenor added.

The Punj Lloyd Group is a diversified international conglomerate offering EPC services in energy and infrastructure along with engineering and manufacturing capabilities in the defence sector.