ACRES wins wildlife center pollution case

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2010:

 

 

ACRES wins wildlife center pollution case

 

SINGAPORE--The Animal Concerns Research and Education Society

on March 24, 2010 won an order from Singapore High Court Justice Kan

Ting Chiu that ANA Contractor Ltd. must pay damages for building most

of the ACRES wildlife rehabilitation center on a footing of woodchips

contaminated with toxic materials believed to be residue from

sandblasting.

ANA Ltd. subcontracted the job of filling and leveling the

site in Choa Chu Kang to another firm, Lok Sheng Enterprises.

" Shortly after the land was filled, the area was plagued by a foul

stench and brackish water started to seep through the surface, "

recounted K.C. Vijayan of Straits Times. Toxic leachate also

polluted the nearby Kranji Reservoir, and appeared to menace a

commercial fish farm.

" I cried, " admitted ACRES executive director Louis Ng to

Esther Ng of Today. " It meant demolishing the kitchen, primate

sanctuary, turtle sanctuary, and all the cages that were

built-to-order. They were welded to structures and could not be

salvaged. "

Already delayed for six months by financial problems, the

scheduled ACRES wildlife rehabilitation center opening in October

2007 was indefinitely postponed. A reptile quarantine station that

can house about 50 animals at a time and a humane education center

are now operating, and hosted tours by Asia for Animals conference

delegates in January 2010.

ANA Ltd. also faces 33 criminal charges in connection with the case.

 

 

 

 

 

--

Merritt Clifton

Editor, ANIMAL PEOPLE

P.O. Box 960

Clinton, WA 98236

 

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