Chinese firm dragged to court for damaging property during construction of Acacia road

A woman has dragged the Chinese firm involved in the construction of Acacia road to court for damaging her property during the ongoing works.

Joan Nantongo Bwire, the proprietor of Elisha’s Boutique located along Acacia has ran to the civil division of the High Court in Kampala to sue China State Construction Engineering Corporation Limited for allowing an overflow of water that saw her boutique flooded.

“On or about May 21, 2020, the defendant left a manhole framework close to the plaintiff’s store which blocked the outlet culvert. As a result of the manhole preventing the flow of the water through the culverts, there was an overflow of stormwater which flowed into and consequently flooded the plaintiff’s store,” the court documents say.

According to the proprietor of the boutique, on calculation, the damaged property amounted to shs53million and that later on May 25, 2020 in response to her letter , the Chinese firm acknowledged the destruction of property .

“The first defendant in their response expressed regret for the damage and destruction of property and made assurances that the matter was being handled by their insurance provider. Following the communication, the plaintiff and a team from the defendant entered into negotiations for compensation arising out of the damage but they were not fruitful.”

Demands

Joan Nantongo Bwire wants court to order the Chinese company to compensate her for the damage caused to her property since she now has no capital because she has not been working because of the Coronavirus lockdown.