BDLive reports that it will take 19 years to clear the claims backlog at the Compensation Commission for Occupational Diseases if it continues working at its current pace, commissioner Barry Kistnasamy told MPs on Wednesday.  

His frank admission highlights the mammoth task facing the government as it seeks to improve compensation for mine workers and former miners affected by heart and lung diseases.  The fund has a backlog of 106,000 claims that have been approved by its Medical Bureau for Occupational Disease that have yet to be paid out.  Despite measures being put in place to turn around the ailing institution, it had managed to pay just 1,775 claimants for the year to 31 March.  And an estimated 400,000 former mine workers still needed to be traced and assessed, Kistnasamy said.  The fund, which is overseen by the health department, deals only with mine-related lung and heart conditions, while all other work-related injuries are compensated by a fund overseen by the labour department.

• Read this report by Tamar Kahn in full at BDLive

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