Taean Residents Hit Special Law
Samsung Heavy Industries Not Held Accountable in Bill
By Kim Tae-jong
Staff Reporter
A bill for the compensation of residents in Taean damaged by the nation's worst ever oil spill is expected to get National Assembly approval later this month. But the residents remain angered, saying the bill does not reflect their demands.
According to the bill, the government will first deliver compensation from its own budget and later claim it back from those responsible for the oil spill.
However, the government will only take action after the International Oil Pollution Compensation Fund finishes estimating the scale of the damage, which Lee Ju-seuk, the general director of the residents' association in Taean, argued will take at least one year.
``This is supposed to help us, but the bill excludes everything we have asked for,'' Lee said.
Residents in Taean and nearby areas have long called for immediate compensation for the accident as well as other practical initiatives under a special law. But Lee said that the bill will only result in more delays in compensation, which will further devastate residents struggling with a near-zero income.
``The government seems very reluctant to help us out, different from what they promised us. They have only come up with lukewarm measures,'' he said.
Lee demanded that the government form a local investigation team to estimate the damage and seek an immediate way to compensate people within six months. ``Otherwise, our lives here will be under severe threat.''
The bill is also criticized as it seems very generous to Samsung Heavy Industries, whose barge collided with the stationary Hong Kong-registered oil tanker Hebei Spirit resulting in the huge slick.
``The bill could force Samsung Heavy Industries to pay compensation to residents,'' said Park Ju-min of the Lawyers for a Democratic Society. ``Or the government can later claim the right to debit the company after compensating the residents. But there is no mention about the company in the bill at all.''
Park, whose group is representing the residents, said the government seems to have given an ``indulgence'' to the company.
He also criticized the bill for excluding support plans for those who have been indirectly damaged from the spill such as the residents whose business depends on tourism.