A Bahrain court has ordered a South Korean firm to pay BD30,000 to appoint technical experts to examine the construction site of a major flyover project.

Attorney Fatima Al Hawaj, who is representing Sungwon, yesterday submitted the cheque to the Urgent Matters Court, after judges reduced the fee from BD45,000, according to a report in our sister newspaper Gulf Daily News (GDN).

It was the latest development in the legal battle to sue the government for terminating Sungwon's contract last month.

Sungwon was brought in to build the BD43 million Isa Town flyover project, but the contract was terminated after the government claimed the company had not even finished half of the work.

The company has taken the Works Ministry to court, arguing it had no right to cancel the contract, seize the company's equipment and claim a BD4 million bond.

Al Hawaj had earlier requested the court to appoint technical experts to examine the construction site and evaluate the work already carried out by the company, as well as its costs.

The court ordered her client to pay the outstanding fee, but yesterday reduced it to BD30,000.

It appointed three experts to examine the worksite and adjourned the case to March 25 for the submission of their report.

The same court had earlier lifted a freeze stopping the government seizing the BD4 million guarantee, which was deposited at HSBC bank before work started in October 2007.

It initially froze the guarantee until a verdict was issued, but later ruled it was unfit to handle such a suit and lifted the freeze.

However, Al Hawaj appealed, saying the court had no legal right to 'unfreeze' the guarantee bond before the experts have submitted their report.

The Urgent Matters Appeals Court will review the case today.

Al Hawaj also filed another case against the Works Ministry demanding it to hand over the equipment that the government had seized at the site.

Work on the flyover was supposed to finish by July, but the ministry terminated the contract claiming the firm was facing financial difficulties in Korea and Dubai and 'failed to honour its commitments in continuing the work'.

It said that other companies were 'ready and able' to take over the project.-TradeArabia News Service