Water leak damages villa in Janabiya, owner awarded BD30,000

TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

A nasty water leak that damaged a villa and caused the property to sink slightly will cost a government agency BD30,000. The compensation is for a villa owner in the Al Janabiya area.

The High Appeals Court, in its verdict, said the water leaks inflicted hefty damages to the villa built around 1995. It, however, reduce the compensation from BD80,000 to BD30,000, citing other factors in the mishap.

The owner took the government agency to Court after his villa developed several cracks following the leakages, which also caused the property to slightly sank. An earlier decision by the Court of First Instance had asked the government agency to pay BD80,000, which another Appeals Court also confirmed.

The defendant, however, challenged the verdicts before the Cassation Court, which ordered a retrial before the High Appeals Court. The High Appeals Court ruled that water leaks were not the sole reason for the villa’s damage, and other factors are also in play.

Court files say the government agency fixed the water leak within 24 hours of filing a complaint and that the repair cost, according to an expert, would come to only BD31,200.

High Appeals Court also assigned another expert to examine the house, whose report recommended rebuilding the house. The High Appeals Court said, in reaching the judgement, it took into consideration the age of the building and the fact that the owner and his family are still living in the villa ten years after the incident. The Court also said that the incident caused damages to the building’s foundation and other objects.

The Court said that each property in Bahrain has an expected lifespan of around 40 to 50 years. The building in question, judges said, is now 27 years old and left in it another 13 to 23 years of life. Therefore, the Court reduced the compensation to BD30,000 from BD81,000.