Negotiations are still at a standstill over compensation for families of the 36 Bahraini victims of last year's Gulf Air disaster, reported the Gulf Daily News on Monday.
The Gulf Air Flight 072 Family Committee board met again Sunday to discuss the compensation issue.
Members were also discussing forging ahead with a civil lawsuit to secure what they describe as a "fair and adequate" financial settlement.
Committee members remain divided over accepting a revised offer of $130,000 (BD49,140) per victim for the 14 Bahraini men, 10 Bahraini women and 12 Bahraini children (under 18 years of age).
They were among the 143 passengers and crew members who died on August 23 when an Airbus A320 en route from Cairo plunged into the sea just off Muharraq.
The current figure is a 25 percent increase over the initial compensation offer, said the paper.
The committee, formed just after the disaster, comprises around 100 family members of the Bahraini victims.
"The (compensation) figure is not enough," board member Ali Oraibi said.
"This amount simply is not satisfactory, especially for the adult male crash victims, who have left wives and children."
Oraibi acknowledged that the proposed compensation figure exceeded obligations under the Warsaw Convention and the Montreal Treaty, which sets a compensation limit of $100,000 (BD37,800) per victim.
But he said the committee had discussed its options with a prominent international aviation attorney, who was urging them to pursue litigation.
However, potential civil lawsuits can only be filed once the cause of the crash has been determined.
Since Bahrain's judicial system is based on Sharia (Islamic law), any amount awarded in a lawsuit would be solely determined by a judge.
Oraibi said the committee would like to reach agreement with UK-based Willis Faber, the insurance broker, and ultimately with Gulf Air that would provide a reasonable financial settlement, without embroiling all parties in what could be several years of litigation.
Gulf Air's senior legal advisor Abbas Imam said earlier he believed the compensation offer was fair and "more than generous."
"We began this very scientifically," he explained.
"The scheme we have devised is within the framework of the Montreal Treaty, and also exceeds the $20,000 in liability as set by the Warsaw Convention."
Imam said Gulf Air's liability extension was more than what most other airlines offered.
"This is not a matter of bargaining," he cautioned.
"The liability will be determined by international standards and within Bahrain's judicial system for cases that cannot be resolved out of court."
Imam said the airline was analyzing each case and that out-of-court settlements would likely be determined on an individual basis.
"Of course, we are looking at several things ... each victim's age, their income, and their number of dependants," he said.
"All of these factors will play into consideration," he told the paper – Albawaba.com
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
