Conclusion to the arowana farm lawsuit?

Hi all,
On 16 October 2006, (yes a long time ago. :-)) I published a post on my blog about a lawsuit that took place then when an arowana farm in Singapore sued a construction company for $1M.

Please refer here - arowana lawsuit for the original story.

Here is the final chapter in the court case. (only the damages has not been decided by the courts yet.) Please refer to courts decide on arowana lawsuit for the full story.

If for any reason you cannot access that story, I have posted it in full below anyway.

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Feb 22, 2008 The Straits Times by Selina Lum

Appeal court tackles 'fish and chips' case
Contractor loses appeal over dead arowanas

A CASE about 'fish and chips' came before Singapore's highest court on Friday.
A construction firm was appealing against the decision of a lower court, which had found that it was liable for the deaths of 31 prized arowanas at a fish breeding farm.

When the firm's lawyer, in raising doubts about the number of dead fish, referred to the microchips implanted in the arowanas, an appeal judge quipped: 'It's a fishy case about fish and chips.'

At the end of the hearing, the Court of Appeal decided that the firm, Lian Shing Construction, was liable for one less fish.

The fish in question had died four months after the bulk of the arowanas perished. It had been sent, close to the death, to the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) for tests.

An autopsy found that it had chronic liver and kidney disease. Arowanas cost between $500 and $10,000 each depending on age, size and breed, say fish enthusiasts.

OTF Aquarium Farm's lawyer told the court on Friday that some fish can fetch as much as $70,000 each.

The saga began in 2002, when Lian Shing was subcontracted by the Public Utilities Board to carry out drainage works at an area bordering the farm at Pasir Ris Drive 12.

PUB had received feedback that the drainage reserve area was soggy and carried a risk of mosquito breeding. OTF breeds tropical fish for the domestic market as well as for export to China, Taiwan and Japan.

After the works started, the fish farm suffered flooding during heavy downpours. The floodwaters flowed into one of its fish ponds on a few occasions between Dec 2002 and Feb 2003.

A total of 42 arowanas in the pond died over the next six months.

In 2005, OTF sued Lian Shing for negligence, seeking damages for the 42 dead arowanas, loss of future income from breeding the fish, and repairs to the pond. It alleged that the construction firm?s works had caused the flooding.

The court, which also comprised Chief Justice Chan Sek Keong and Judge of Appeal Andrew Phang, dismissed the appeal. A separate hearing will be held months later to assess the damages.

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Please let me know your thoughts below here if any. Can't imagine if more ponds were polluted and more arowanas died! PAINFUL exercise!!!

Steven