Letters

The report, Young Fails to Delay Navy's Corvette Tests (November 21), describes me as "devastated" at not being granted an urgent interdict to prevent the onselling of our equipment to another party until we had been paid in full.

Devastated I am not. Nonplussed would better describe it. Nonplussed at losing on the "balance of convenience" where it was averred under oath that the other party would suffer "vast" and "immeasurable" harm, whereas its damages are limited contractually to a percentage of contract price.

Your report states, correctly I believe, that this harm would amount to "R15m in penalties", whereas our claim was for about R13m (although it is probably closer to R14,5m).

The other party has taken delivery of all the equipment and deliverables and these are satisfactorily working. Yet we have been out of pocket to a tune of R14m for nearly a year, a condition which may endure for quite some time longer. I aver that it is quite easy to be nonplussed in these circumstances.

Richard Young
Cape Town