Decision ID: 003246

In June 2007 the 1992 Fund Executive Committee considered two claims by the Regional Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD). The Committee noted that one of the claims was in respect of costs providing relief assistance to 5 450 households whose livelihoods had been most adversely affected by the incident and that the assistance had been in the form of the provision of basic commodities for daily subsistence of the families involved over the first few days after the incident It was noted that the claim consisted of the costs of food items , packing and distribution of the relief goods. It was also noted that the majority of those who had received food aid were dependent on fishing as their primary source of income and that all those who had received aid had been directly affected by oil spilled from the Solar 1. It was further noted that the Director had taken the view that the relief assistance provided by DSWD had been justified in the circumstances and that the claim was admissible in principle. It was noted that the other claim was in respect of the funding of a ‘cash for work’ programme instigated to relieve economic hardship of those fisherfolk most adversely affected by the pollution who had not been engaged in the clean-up operations, involving about 1 000 families for five to seven days in activities such as improvements of roads and drainage, food production and community cleaning. The Executive Committee decided that the claim by DSWD for the costs of the programme was not admissible and should be rejected on the grounds that the work carried out under the programme did not relate to clean-up operations and the persons involved in the programme had already been compensated for their economic losses resulting from the contamination.