The Court of First Instance (TJB) has sentenced a number of building contractors and insurance companies to pay the Macau Special Administrative Region (MSAR) and the Social Welfare Bureau (IAS) compensation of about 38.2 million patacas, the Court of Final Appeal (TUI) announced in a statement yesterday.
According to the statement, the defendants were sentenced for the construction faults that resulted in structural damage and ultimately led to the evacuation of the 30-storey, 144-flat Sin Fong Garden Building in 2012 after several of its main pillars burst.
A report by the University of Hong Kong in 2013 concluded that several main pillars on Sin Fong Garden’s second floor burst due to “poor construction material”.
The building, which was demolished in 2019, is being rebuilt by a group of the original condominium owners after years of bitter disputes over what caused the building to be “unfit for human habitation” and the funding of its reconstruction.
According to the ruling, Sin Fong Garden’s structural damage was caused by the low quality of concrete used to build its pillars as well as by the piling work of an adjacent building project.
The court sentenced the defendants to pay the Macau Special Administrative Region 12.8 million patacas for its measures to stop the building from collapsing after its evacuation. They were also sentenced to pay the Social Welfare Bureau 25.4 million patacas for the temporary housing that it has been providing to the building’s evacuees over the years.
