Nakheel told to pay contractor Dh58m

A contractor has won almost Dh60 million from developer Nakheel for work completed in an unfinished contract to construct 31 residential buildings in Discovery Gardens. The Dubai World Tribunal (DWT) agreed that Technical Architects General Contracting Company (TAGC) should be paid over Dh58 million for the portion of the Dh950 million project that was finished when work was halted in 2008. In a statement yesterday, law firm Hadef & Partners welcomed the DWT decision, which rejected an appeal by Nakheel that the compensation figure had not been agreed to and that the firm had not received the original papers from TAGC. In January 2011 TAGC served proceedings on Nakheel in the DWT claiming Dh73 million, the agreed settlement of Dh58 million plus interest and loss of profit. Nakheel, which declined to comment to Gulf News yesterday, also argued that DWT did not have jurisdiction to try the case. Head of Hadef & Partners' engineering and construction practice in Dubai, Anthony Edwards said: "This is a significant victory for our client TAGC in its efforts to recover its costs incurred under the terms of the contract. The DWT affirmed it had jurisdiction to hear this case and there was clear evidence the settlement agreement had been entered into and that Nakheel had failed to prove the amount had not been agreed," he said. The decisions of the DWT are not subject to appeal. TAGC asked Nakheel to pay the amount within 14 days and will be asking for costs and further interest.