Crash victims' families receive compensation

Crash victims' families receive compensation

Apriadi Gunawan, The Jakarta Post, Medan

Relatives of Mandala crash victims in Medan received compensation
from state insurance firm PT Jasa Raharja on Wednesday, taking
advantage of the moment to lash out at the airlines for its slow
response after the accident.

Sabarudin Rambe, the father of passenger Prizani Anggita who
died in the accident, said the Mandala staff treated him unkindly
at a time when he was in deep grief and desperate to find out
about the fate of his daughter.

"We're very offended by Mandala's service. They should have at
least been kind and informed us about the accident but they
didn't and we're disappointed," said Sabarudin, who spoke on
behalf of the families of the victims after receiving
compensation from the insurance firm.

Tuti Hartati, whose husband died in the accident, complained
about the tedious process she had to go through to get the
compensation. She said the airlines could just send an official
to take care of the matter, like Jasa Raharja did, instead of
requiring them to go to Mandala's office.

"We just lost our loved ones and we're told to go to Mandala's
office to take care of the compensation. Jasa Raharja staff came
to our homes to take care of the matter," said Tuti, who is nine-
month pregnant.

At least 149 people including people on the ground were killed
when a Mandala aircraft slammed into a densely populated
residential area near Polonia airport in Medan last week in one
of the country's worst airplane tragedies.

Jasa Raharja President Director Darwin Noor said that 47 out
of 77 families of crash victims who had died had received
compensation amounting to Rp 50 million (US$5,000) each from the
company in Medan. In Jakarta, the company also delivered
compensation to the families of 12 crash victims on Wednesday.
For the remaining families, the compensation was distributed by
the company's branches where the victims' families live.

PT Mandala Airlines acting chairman Maj. Gen. Asril H. Tanjung
welcomed the criticism over the company's poor services after the
accident and conveyed his apologies.

"We'll use the criticism to improve. We will deal with all the
unfinished matters to the best of our ability," Asril said.

Following the crash, in a move to boost safety in the domestic
airline industry, the government has been conducting spot safety
checks. As a result four Boeing 737-200 planes operated by four
different airlines, including Mandala, were grounded over the
weekend.

Another Boeing 737-200 aircraft, operated by Mandala Airlines,
was again grounded following a random safety check of 11 aircraft
on Monday night.

Asril said that the company plans to compensate all the
families of the crash victims in a month's time, both passengers
and non-passengers.

He said the amount of compensation would vary. A family of a
person who died in the crash, he said, would receive Rp 300
million, while a victim suffering permanent injury would receive
up to Rp 300 million along with medical costs for 30 days after
being released from hospital.

An injured victim will receive a maximum of Rp 50 million in
addition to medical costs for 30 days after getting out of the
hospital, while those suffering from burns will have their
medical costs covered for 90 days after being released from the
hospital.

Asril also said that residents whose houses were destroyed in
the crash would get their houses rebuilt.

"The compensation will be for all victims, both passengers and
residents, even if there is a passenger who was not listed in the
manifest," he said.