Builder of Defective Condos to Soon File for Bankruptcy
Kyodo News International, Tokyo
KUMAMOTO, Japan, November 24, 2005. Kimura Construction Co., the builder of dozens of defective condominiums and hotels with falsified quake-resistance data, said Thursday it will soon file for bankruptcy. Moriyoshi Kimura, president of the contractor based in Yatsushiro, Kumamoto Prefecture, announced the decision in a news conference held in the prefectural capital of Kumamoto.
Kimura said his company will file the bankruptcy applications in court at the end of November at the earliest. Kimura Construction, founded by Kimura himself in 1963, suspended its business operations Tuesday after one of its checks was not honored by its lender Monday, according to credit investigators. The company had an estimated 13.8 billion yen in liabilities at the end of October, they said.
Earlier this month, an architect in Ichikawa, Chiba Prefecture, admitted that he falsified quake-resistance data for a number of building projects in recent years, sending shockwaves through a country prone to earthquakes. Kimura Construction is believed to have constructed many of the defective buildings based on falsified quake-resistance data. The builder emphasized lower costs and faster construction to win condominium and hotel construction bids in the Tokyo metropolitan region and posted 12.7 billion yen in sales for the year that ended in June, according to a private credit research agency.
At the news conference, Kimura said he has concluded that his company will not be able to continue operation any longer because of a plunge in its credit in the wake of the defective buildings scandal and the dishonoring of the check. He apologized for being involved in the construction of defective buildings, saying he feels "deep responsibility for failing to perform his duty as head of a construction company to provide safe buildings." However, the president blamed the defective buildings on the architect in question and the building inspectors that failed to detect the data forgery, saying his company merely trusted them.
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Copyright (c) 2005, Kyodo News International, Tokyo
Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.
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