Acres has yet to receive a cent from $26.5m suit

An animal welfare group has not received a cent of the $26.5million in damages it was awarded in June over a case resulting from soil pollution at its shelter for rescued wildlife.

Thus, plans for the Animal Concerns Research and Education Society's (Acres) shelter at Choa Chu Kang are in limbo.

The group has not been able to claim any money yet as Mr Tan Boon Kwee, the contractor who damaged the land, is bankrupt.

Acres executive director Louis Ng said it is making do by building a smaller shelter and enclosures on undamaged land at its Choa Chu Kang premises.

But these projects have met with problems too.

An appeal to construction firms to build a smaller shelter for free was of no avail.

Volunteers pitched in, however, and built a smaller shelter able to house up to 100 animals.

Opened earlier this month, it is now home to 46 animals, including Indian star tortoises, Giant Asian pond turtles and a green iguana.

The original $650,000 shelter was supposed to house about 500 animals.

Mr Ng said: "We are making the best of the situation for now. I am also hopeful that we will be able to claim some money back (from Mr Tan)."

Mr Ng said he is waiting for the Insolvency and Public Trustee's Office (IPTO) to complete its investigations into Mr Tan before deciding what to do.

When contacted, IPTO said: "(We) will inform creditors when there are sufficient funds in the bankruptcy estate for payment to the creditors."

Mr Tan, 50, was declared bankrupt in July last year, after he was unable to repay the legal fees incurred by Acres in the civil case.

When contacted by The Straits Times, he declined to comment on whether he will pay Acres.

He was the director of ANA Contractor, hired by Acres in 2006 to level a 2ha plot of land - roughly the size of two football fields - to build the shelter.

ANA filled the earth with material believed to have contained toxic hydrocarbon and other chemicals, which led to foul-smelling brackish water leaking from the soil.

The shelter had to be demolished.

Damages sought by Acres had included $23 million to be spent on cleaning up the toxic waste and $62,000 for the installation of a special tank to stop the brackish water from entering the nearby Kranji Reservoir.

ameltan@sph.com.sg

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