Contractor given suspended prison sentence for failing to complete construction work on time

Muscat: A man in Sohar has been handed a suspended prison sentence for failing to comply with a construction contract, the Public Authority for Consumer Protection revealed. The preliminary court in Saham sentenced a suspect to three months suspended imprisonment and a fine of OMR500 for "dishonesty," according to PACP, after he failed to complete construction on time. The case began when the Directorate General for Consumer Protection in Sohar received a complaint from a consumer who agreed with a contractor to build a two-floored house with the work to be completed on an agreed date. After the contractor received the first financial installment, he failed to complete the work to the stage agreed upon under the contract, and only 8 per cent of work was completed. Therefore, the Directorate examined the complaint and addressed the suspect, who admitted that he had not been able to hand over the house on time because the workers who were meant to build the house left. The case was then referred to the competent authority where a judgment of three months suspended imprisonment and a fine of OMR500 was pronounced.