July 30th, 2007
The Asbestos Relief Trust has reported that claimants in Cape Town that have received compensation for asbestos related disease are still very poor even after they have been awarded compensation. Many received lump sums in compensation but the funds have already dried up.
It was revealed that many of those that received compensation had to hide the fact from neighbors that were also very poor and in need of money. The compensation fund was set up by Gencor and British multinational Cape in order to settle litigation although the company admitted no liability.
The settlement fund was set up with $587.5 million, and twenty percent of those making a claim stated that their families were suffering from daily shortages of food.
Nearly fourteen hundred people have received compensation from the fund since October, but in many cases the money received went on essential items such as household goods.
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