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WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 18, 1985
BUT MR THOMAS WARNED THE COUNCIL THAT THE INVESTIGATION OF THE CIRCUMSTANCES SURROUNDING THE CONSTRUCTION OF SUCH A LARGE NUMBER OF HOUSING BLOCKS, SOME OF WHICH WERE BUILT NEARLY 20 YEARS AGO, WAS LIKELY TO BE +AS UNPRODUCTIVE AS IT WOULD BE TIME CONSUMING AND EXPENSIVE.+
HE ADDED: +1 HOPE HONOURABLE MEMBERS AND MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC WILL UNDERSTAND, AND TAKE ACCOUNT OF THE DIFFICULTIES WE FACE IN CONTEMPLATING LEGAL ACTION NOW AGAINST ALL THE CONTRACTORS INVOLVED.+
WHEN PROBLEMS OF THIS NATURE CAME TO LIGHT, IT WAS NATURAL TO THINK THAT THERE SHOULD BE RETRIBUTION, AND THAT COMPENSATION SHOULD BE PAID BY THOSE RESPONSIBLE. AND THE LAW COULD BE INVOKED TO MAKE CULPRITS PAY FOR LOSSES THEY HAD CAUSED.
BUT IN REALITY. PROBLEMS ALWAYS AROSE IN PRACTICE WHEN THERE WAS SUCH A LONG DELAY BEFORE DEFECTS CAME TO LIGHT,
+MUCH TIME HAS PASSED SINCE THESE BLOCKS WERE BUILT. THIS DELAY MAKES THE TASK OF THE COURTS VERY DIFFICULT INDEED, + HE SAID,
IT WAS DIFFICULT TO TRACE THE RELEVANT RECORDS AFTER ALL THIS TIME AND TO FIND THE MATERIAL WITNESSES. MOST OF THEM WOULD BY NOW HAVE RETIRED, SOME OF THEM TO VARIOUS PARTS OF THE WORLD, HE SAID.
EVEN WHEN THEY COULD BE TRACED, THE IR RECOLLECTION OF DETAILED MATTERS WAS LIKELY TO BE VERY DIM. ALL TOO OFTEN, CONTEMPORANEOUS DOCUMENTS COULD NOT BE FOUND AND CRITICAL FACTS WERE IMPOSSIBLE TO ESTABLISH. FURTHERMORE, MANY OF THE CONTRACTORS HAD ALREADY GONE OUT OF BUSINESS. SOME OF THE COMPANIES HAD LONG GONE INTO LIQUIDATION.
+AND NO LESS SERIOUS FROM THE LEGAL POINT OF VIEW, WE FACE PROBLEMS BECAUSE OF THE STATUTORY TIME LIMITS FOR BRINGING CLAIMS BEFORE THE COURTS,+ MR THOMAS SAID.
MR THOMAS SAID THAT HE COULD NOT AGREE WITH THE SUGGESTION THAT A COMMISSION OF INQUIRY BE SET UP TO LOOK INTO THE CASE, THE EXPENSE THAT WOULD BE INCURRED BY HOLDING A FORMAL PUBLIC INQUIRY AT THIS TIME COULD NOT, IN HIS VIEW, BE JUSTIFIED.
HE CONGRATULATED UNOFFICIAL MEMBERS FOR THE TIME AND TROUBLE THEY HAD TAKEN TO ENSURE THAT THIS MATTER WAS FULLY AND OPENLY DISCUSSED WITH MEMBERS OF THE ADMINISTRATION AND EXPLAINED TO THEM.
+ THE PUBLIC WILL SURELY APPRECIATE THE EFFORTS OF HONOURABLE MEMBERS ON THEIR BEHALF, HE SAID.
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