Taiwan to compensate families of three RI SARS victims

Sari P. Setiogi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The families of three Indonesian nurses who died of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in Taipei will receive financial compensation worth US$27,780 (Rp 250 million) each from the Taiwanese government, a Taiwanese official has said.

Derek Hsu, director of the information division of the Taipei Economic and Trade Office in Jakarta, said here on Wednesday the funds were tokens of appreciation for their work in serving the public.

"The Taiwan government will give NT$ 700,000 (in salary compensation) and an additional NT$ 100,000 to each family (of the dead victims)," Hsu said. One US$ equals 36 NT$.

Three Indonesian nurses -- identified by foreign minister Hassan Wirayuda as Sri Rejeki, Ubaidiyah and Rosita -- succumbed to SARS in Taipei, Taiwan, in late April and early May.

NT$ 700,000 is equivalent to 45 months of a worker's wage in Taiwan. The minimum wage of a worker in Taiwan is about NT$ 15,840 per month, but on average they earn about NT$ 20,000.

"Besides that, according to the Industrial Disaster Compensation Funds, each could also receive another NT$ 5,000," he said.

The money would be handed over directly to each family of the victims in Taipei. Representatives of each family would be invited to Taipei, with accommodation and transportation paid for by the Taiwanese government.

The ashes of the cremated victims would also be delivered to their families at that time, Hsu said.

Responding to the controversy over the cremation of the SARS victims, Hsu said Taiwan implemented its health law, which said that dead victims of any infectious disease should be cremated, regardless of their nationality, religion, race or whatever.

"As soon as it is declared by a doctor that someone dies because of an infectious disease, the corpse should be cremated," he said.

The cremation of the three Indonesian Muslim nurses -- not allowed under religious teachings -- in Taipei has sparked debates here in Indonesia, where almost 80 percent of its 215 million population are Muslim.

According to the latest update by the World Health Organization (WHO), there are 7,699 cases, with 598 fatalities worldwide. With 264 cases and 30 fatalities, Taiwan has now become the third-highest SARS-affected country.

Hsu said there were about 100,000 Indonesian workers in Taiwan at present, including about 2,000 illegal workers.

As SARS has now spread widely in the country, the Taiwanese government has given an extended, six-month stay to its overseas workers.

Touching on the issue of Taiwan's ban on workers from Indonesia imposed last year, Hsu said the two governments were still discussing the possibility of lifting the ban.

The two governments, he said, were still trying to resolve a number of issues, including high agency fees charged by Indonesian worker recruitment agencies.

"The Indonesian worker agencies ask for very high fees, while Indonesian authorities also require our worker agencies deduct NT$ 3,000 from the monthly wage of each Indonesian worker as the so-called deposit for the Indonesian government," Hsu said.