Dubai: The Oasis Centre is seeking Dh66 million in compensation from an electric company which was held responsible for its exterior maintenance before a fire gutted it in 2005.
One of the company's safety officers and two workers from the subcontractor who carried out the Centre's exterior maintenance, were jailed for unintentionally causing the fire in September 2005.
The Dubai Court of Appeal issued an irrevocable ruling in which the company and subcontractor were held liable for the fire. The centre's lawyer, Dr Habib Al Mulla, of Habib Al Mulla and Co Advocates and Legal Consultants, filed a lawsuit with the Dubai Civil Court which will decide if the defendants are liable to compensate the claimant.
Al Mulla said the company hired a subcontracting company to carry out the outer maintenance. "The safety officer and two workers were found criminally responsible for the fire which started due to negligence, according to the criminal court. Thereby the electric company is accountable and liable to compensate our client for Dh66,061,061 in civil compensation against the financial damages they accrued," Al Mulla argued before the Civil Court in his lawsuit.
Moreover, Al Mulla, who also represents the Landmark Gulf Group that managed Oasis Centre when the fire happened, lodged a simultaneous lawsuit against three insurance companies where the claimants had the maintenance works insured.
The Dubai Civil Court studied the lawsuits separately last month and reconvenes soon to hear the defendants' responses.
By Bassam Za'za'
© Gulf News 2008
