'Councils shielded from lawsuits'

18/02/2006 New Straits Times

THE majority of the Federal Court says local councils are shielded from lawsuits for certain damages because their main priority should be providing services to the public.

Providing these services "has priority over compensation for pure economic loss of some individuals who are clearly better off than the majority residents in the local area", said judge Datuk Abdul Hamid Mohamad.
 
The economic loss here arose from the loss of apartments in Blocks Twoand Three of Highland Towers, which had not been damaged by the collapse of Block One.

The two buildings began listing later, and were condemned, because the hillslope there had not been stabilised.

Abdul Hamid held, with Datuk Ariffin Zakaria concurring, that public policy and circumstances were taken into account in deciding MPAJ should be shielded from liability.

Even if a council had the means to pay, it would deplete the resources it had to spend on services and basic infrastructure.

Moreover, it was not "fair, just and reasonable" for taxpayers' money to be used to pay for such damages.

"I do not think that in the present circumstances, on the facts of this case, it is fair, just and reasonable to impose such a burden on local councils in this country in similar situations," he said.