KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 7): The High Court on Wednesday has asked Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) to reconsider whether it wants to continue pursuing its stay application of having to pay RM1.3 million in damages to a retired senior police officer and his wife, over their home being badly damaged after DBKL had allowed the construction of a condominium nearby.
High Court judge Gan Techiong wants DBKL counsel Mohd Ruzaini Zulkifli to take further instructions from his client, in light of the couple’s counsel Cheow Wee having produced City Hall’s 2023 audited account, which stipulates that the local council had set aside a sum of RM2.3 million as contingent liability, taking into account the suit filed by Datuk Adnan Azizon and his wife Datin Aziah Ahmad.
The judge said DBKL had collected hundreds of millions of ringgit in revenue, and before the development of the condominium it had also taken a development charge from the developer.
Gan said surely a few million in development charges had been taken by the local council before earthworks were done.
“The plaintiff here is a retired police officer, and the wife is a retired headmistress. DBKL should do some retrospection due to the damage caused to their property.
“There was a stop-work order, but the development of the condo was allowed to continue two weeks after, resulting in further damages to the plaintiffs’ property. So, do you want to seriously oppose [paying damages] by seeking a stay or want the court to continue to hear your application?” the judge said.
On Aug 13, it was reported that Gan had found DBKL and developer Fame Modulation Sdn Bhd to be liable for causing damage to Adnan and Aziah’s home in Alam Damai, Cheras. Gan had awarded RM1.3 million in damages to be paid by the local council and the developer which had gone under liquidation.
The court ordered the developer Fame Modulation through its liquidator, and DBKL to pay, jointly or severally, a sum of RM300,000 in general damages for the prolonged hardship and displacement, another RM160,000 for special damages for rentals paid for alternative accommodation, and RM819,000 for repair costs and associated relocation expenses.
This was due to the hazard posed to the couple’s home, where they were forced to move out of the house with their four young children, out of fear of the house collapsing. (Photos taken from the judge's written grounds)
Besides this, the court ordered RM17,080 for civil engineer and RM20,000 for quantity surveyor costs, to also be borne by the developer and DBKL.
DBKL is appealing the judgement.
DBKL cites payment may disrupt its services, and no-allocation
Earlier, Ruzaini said that DBKL is seeking a stay of the court’s order to pay damages, on the grounds that payment would disrupt the council’s expenditure for maintenance of roads and in the collection of rubbish, and that City Hall had no budget for the award.
However, DBKL did not provide the local council’s account status where it cites that it did not have the necessary finances to pay the sum due to its obligations to its contractors.
Cheow meanwhile replied that there are no special circumstances shown that DBKL cannot pay.
“The claim that they have obligations to meet are mere bare assertions. As shown in the audited accounts retrieved from City Hall’s website, they had already prepared a budget since 2023, following my client’s suit.
“City Hall cannot rely on its own failure to manage its finances, which is mere speculation [on its part], to prevent the execution of the judgement. The plaintiff should not be denied the fruits of its successful litigation,” the lawyer said.
Cheow admitted that the information from the DBKL’s website were only obtained on Tuesday (Oct 6) night, and following that, Gan instructed that a proper filing in court be made and not make the statement from the Bar (an unsworn statement).
Following that, the judge told Ruzaini to get further instructions from his client by affirming an affidavit to respond to the information retrieved from its website.
The court fixed Oct 16 for continued hearing, and directed Cheow to file the necessary account document by Thursday (Oct 8) with an affirmed affidavit, and DBKL to reply by Oct 15.
Gan asked Cheow as to the couple’s whereabouts, and the lawyer replied that they had to attend to their ailing son in Johor Bahru.
Fame Modulation was represented by lawyer Lee Gi Yen.
Gan in his judgement had said that the lackadaisical conduct of City Hall — which temporarily halted Fame Modulation’s project but quickly allowed the developer to resume works without adequate safeguards and remedies for Adnan and Aziah — had resulted in them naming City Hall in this suit.
“Although the developer had undertaken to repair Adnan and Aziah’s home, it failed to fulfil its undertaking. After several years of waiting, the developer’s failure to repair had resulted in the couple obtaining a loan from Bank Rakyat to finance the repairs of their house, so they could move back home. For a couple in their 60s, who are living on government pensions, to be saddled with a substantial loan to repair their house is an onerous burden,” Gan added in his 46-page judgement.