'DISGRACE' and 'scandal' are over-used words. But not when it comes to describing the situation concerning compensation payments to hundreds of thousands of sick miners.
It's totally unacceptable that some victims of Vibration White Finger and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease have had to wait more than 10 YEARS for money to which they are entitled under the coal health compensation schemes.
- Poorly ex-miners forced to wait years for compensation
According to a Government report, more than 100,000 cases were still outstanding six months ago because of poor planning by the Department of Trade and Industry. The fact that the DTI now says it aims to have processed most of the remaining cases by February next year just serves to underscore a shameful state of affairs.
How many of those sick people will not live long enough to see the benefit is not known of course. What IS known is that many have already died or become too incapacitated to enjoy what is rightfully theirs because of this shambles.
The understandable anger that has been generated ought to be matched by similar feelings concerning the exorbitant sums made by some solicitors involved in handling claims and the lack of proper control over their conduct.
Warsop MP John Mann has been particularly outspoken on this issue. But nothing will ever put right the wrong that has been inflicted on so many men in the name of coal.
Ill-health and premature deaths seem destined to cast a long, dark shadow for years to come, perhaps even to the day when the industry is no more than a distant memory.
No amount of money can ever put that right.
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