E-Land to focus on PIC first

The E-Land Group of Companies on Saipan said they would focus all of their resources first in getting Pacific Islands Club Saipan fully operational before addressing the situation at Coral Ocean Point Golf & Resort.

Both hotels are being operated by the Seoul-based Korean conglomerate, along with the Kensington Hotel in San Roque.

PIC and COP sustained heavy damage during Super Typhoon Yutu, causing them to close so their staff and other personnel could clean up all the debris and temporarily fix the facilities destroyed by the Category 5 tropical cyclone.

“COP was 100-percent damaged while PIC also had some damage. For COP, there was no building that wasn’t left untouched. If you’ve seen it, it was really devastating.” PIC Saipan general manager Gloria Cavanagh told Saipan Tribune.

“That’s why we’re focusing on getting PIC back up and running first before we address the problems at COP,” added Cavanagh, who is also the president of the Hotel Association of the Northern Mariana Islands.

In a separate interview, E-Land Group president Matthew Park said they are among the worst damaged companies on the island and that COP faces an uncertain future. “PIC will re-open but I’m not sure about COP because of too much damage. It will take some time.”

PIC returns

Park said that they are looking to finish the repairs at PIC before the year ends. “If you go to PIC right now, it’s a mess but I think we can finish our rebuilding by the end of December. We are now fixing the rooftop, rooms, and the swimming pools.”

This was seconded by Cavanagh, who added that they are almost done clearing the rubble and other typhoon-related debris. “If you go in, it’s a bunch of rubble. The rubble is good since that means the demolition is done. And now we’re rebuilding everything. The pools should be finished within this week. …Hopefully, by the end of the year or the beginning of the year, we will be 100 percent functional.”

She said that PIC has already received its first guests in the early hours of Nov. 21. “We will start filling some of the pools. The Magellan and the lobby should also be finished by the 17th.”

“The only thing that is not going to open is the Point Break [facility]. We are also going to open with less rooms because we have about 80 that were damaged. However, we have prepped some of the rooms by replacing some of the floorings. Once all of the [materials] come in on [Dec.] 19, we will be able to fix that really soon.”

Yutu left a massive trail of destruction that could reach millions of dollars when it passed the Caroline Islands between the Federated States of Micronesia and Palau, Saipan, Tinian, the Philippines, and southern China—Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, Hong Kong, and Macau.