Cars valued more than human life

Cars valued more than human life

BANDA ACEH, Aceh: Owners of missing cars from the sunken KMP Gurita ferry have gotten higher compensation than relatives of the dead and missing.

The state-owned insurance companies, PT Jasa Raharja and PT Jasaraharja Putra, transferred Rp 6 million (about US$2,600) on Saturday to the relatives of 228 of the 338 people registered killed or missing.

Car owners, or their relatives, are entitled to Rp 8.5 million in cash. Owners of missing trucks are even 'luckier' as each four-wheel drive vehicle was valued at Rp 12.5 million. The lowest compensation of Rp 2 million went to motorcycle owners.

"For those injured, the companies covered only their medical expenses," the spokesman for the local branch of Jasa Raharja Yanianto was quoted by Antara as saying. He added that the arrangement is in line with the law.

According to the official version of the tragedy, the KMP Gurita was carrying 338 people, 11 cars, 19 motorcycles, 10 tons of cement and 64 tons of other cargo when it went down off of Weh Island on Jan. 19. (pan)