The Asbestos Relief Trust has been established and tasked with paying out compensation to sufferers of asbestos-related diseases.
The trust said in a statement on Wednesday that contributors to its funds included Gefco and Msauli with Gencor providing the lion’s share of R378-million. The total value of the trust was in excess of R400-million.
The life of the trust had been set as 25 years, during which time the trustees would be bound by the terms of the Trust Deed, which was finalised as part of the settlement process and provides the operational framework for the trustees.
According to Doidge the first priority of the trust, in accordance with the Trust Deed, was to attempt to establish the present and future potential claims against it throughout its 25-year lifetime.
”Some sufferers may only develop symptoms in years to come and the trustees are mandated to take all reasonable steps to ensure that all claimants are treated fairly and that current sufferers are not preferred over future sufferers. We are operating with a finite amount of money, and as yet we have no clear estimate of how many people are affected,” Doidge said.
The process of assessing the potential scope of claims was expected to take six months, during which time Doidge said that, unfortunately, the trustees would not be able to make payments to sufferers of asbestosis.
However, advance payments would be made to sufferers of mesothelioma, a terminal form of cancer induced by asbestos.
”The trustees are extremely anxious to ensure that the suffering of those with mesothelioma is alleviated at least from an economic perspective as a matter of urgency.”
The trustees were also focusing their energies on establishing an infrastructure that would make it easy for qualifying claimants to lodge claims against the trust. As part of this, Doidge said the trustees were exploring the possibility of appointing accredited agents, such as attorneys, to assist claimants with processing their claims.
The medical side of the process was also being finalised.
According to Dr Sophia Kisting from the School of Public Health at the University of Cape Town, the majority of current claimants still have to go through a medical evaluation process in keeping with the requirements laid down in the Trust Deed.
Kisting said that two levels of medical panels were being established to evaluate claims, using both private practitioners and public hospitals, and linked up with the Medical Bureau of Occupational Diseases.
”In order to be fair to both current and future sufferers, we need to ensure that a rigorous medical process is in place,” she said.
Again in keeping with the requirements of the Trust Deed, the trustees were establishing a panel of medical practitioners who would be briefed on the medical requirements for compensation.
Sufferers would in the first instance be evaluated by members of this panel, after which the diagnosis would be confirmed by a panel of specialists in occupational health according to international standards.
To qualify for payment, claimants must be suffering from an asbestos-related disease which has a disability associated with it and must have worked for one of the mines associated with one of the three mining companies, or have been exposed to asbestos on those mines.
Finally, Doidge stressed that the trustees were eager to ensure that sufferers were appropriately compensated, and said that the trust would go some way to assisting claimants, to the point of contributing to transport and claim costs if necessary.
Doidge said that potential claimants could address queries to Aaron Roup of Maitland Trust in Johannesburg, which has been appointed to administer the trust, on 011-884-1841, or any one of the trustees. – Sapa