Baldia factory tragedy: ‘We don’t want compensation in instalments’

Victims' families, survivors unhappy with way KiK is handling disbursement of compensation

KARACHI: The Baldia factory fire victims rejected on Wednesday the proposal that they will be delivered the final compensation of more than $5 million through the social security and pension fund institutions in installments, rather than through the judiciary in lump sum mode.

At their general body meeting at the National Trade Union Federation (NTUF) office, leaders and members of the Ali Enterprises Fire Affectees Association, which comprises survivors and families of victims of the blaze, criticised German company KiK Textilien und Non-Food Gmbh chief executive officer Patrick Zahn for being in Pakistan and scheduling a press briefing today (Thursday) but not taking them on board.



KiK procured most of the products made at Ali Enterprises, dubbed as the Baldia factory, for years before a fire ripped through it on September 11, 2012 claiming 260 lives and wounding several others. After paying $1 million as immediate relief, it pledged to pay a calculated $5.15 million as long-term compensation to the victims in September, 2016 in an agreement signed in Geneva.

The victims' association accused the KiK management of exhibiting 'cold behaviour' and not offering an apology for the losses they suffered in the fire. They believed that the fire was caused and intensified due to the lack of health and safety measures and negligence on the part of the factory owners and their clients, including KiK, as they were bound to ensure these, legally as well as ethically.

"We won't accept the compensation in installments after more than four years. It is like multiplying our miseries. We have lost our loved ones in the fire, who were bread winners for the family," said Saeeda Khatoon, senior vice-president of the victims' association, at the meeting. "After their deaths, we are left with no option but to survive on our own," she added. She lost her only son in the fire.

Among the attendees, two women also narrated similar tales and expressed annoyance over the delay in delivering the sum. "For the past few months we have been told that the money has arrived. But it is nowhere in sight. We have a daughter to marry off. How will we be able to manage this when the one who took this responsibility died in the fire?" complained one of the women.



Case will be pursued

NTUF deputy general secretary Nasir Mansoor said that the lawsuit filed against KiK in the regional court of Dortmund, Germany will still be pursued even though the company has deposited the money with one of the parties involved in the negotiation for dispensation. "The case was never about the money. It was for a legal binding on companies that purchase their merchandise from third-world countries at cheaper rates, overlooking the workers' safety and rights," he said. The court hearing the case has accepted its jurisdiction over the matter, granting legal aid to the claimants and is now considering whether KiK could be held accountable for the fire or not, the meeting was told, the decision on the pending matter is expected in middle of this year.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 2^nd, 2017.