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Pioneer Divers in the Norwegian Sector of the North Sea


IT IS A QUESTION OF JUSTICE - CARL I. HAGEN


Carl I Hagen of the Fremskrittspartiet (Progress Party) now demands an explanation from the Divers Committee about different treatment of Norwegian and Scottish pioneer divers.

FRP English site: http://www.frp.no/Innhold/FrP/Temasider/Flere_sprak/English/?folderpagesize=20

Raises questions about British divers:

ABCNyhetter Tuesday 17.02.09 by Ola Karlsen
http://www.abcnyheter.no/node/83763

 

IT IS A QUESTION OF JUSTICE

The Divers Committee must now answer questions from Carl I Hagen about a possible difference in treatment of pioneer divers. – This is about justice, he says.

The last word has not been said about compensation for injured foreign divers or their surviving relatives.

At this moment Carl I Hagen of the Fremskrittspartiet demands an explanation from the Divers Committee about a possible difference in treatment between a Norwegian and a Scottish daughter of a deceased diver. The answer may influence the possibility for compensation also for other foreign divers.

·      I will demand an explanation. In addition I will have clarified to which extent the Divers Committee has acted independently from the department, Hagen says to ABC News.

Norwegian yes, Scottish no

Two weeks ago, ABC News showed how differently to applications for compensation from the surviving relatives after two British divers have been treated by the Divers Committee.

The fathers of Norwegian Elin Lally and Scottish Ann Marie McCreath worked for the same company, on the same platform and died within a month of each other while working in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea.

Whereas the Norwegian daughter has received compensation, the Scottish has been turned down. The two women have become friends over the last few years and have frequent contact. None of them can see any reason for the difference in treatment.

·      We will go deeper into the case of the Divers Committee and their practice toward foreign divers, says Carl I. Hagen, who has also received information about a possible difference in treatment.

Last week ABC News too demanded an explanation in this concrete case, but has as yet not received an answer from the Divers Committee.

Membership status in the Folketrygden (Norwegian Health System)

A crucial question is how the Divers Committee has weighted the degree of membership in the Folketrygden (Social Security service). Officially the leader of the Divers Committee, district stipendiary magistrate Stein Husby, has advocated that injured – or deceased – divers must have held a full membership in the Folketrygden to be entitled to full compensation – i.e. that the membership part that pertains solely to occupational hazard and injury would not be sufficient.

Also this issue Hagen demands clarified:

·      Yes, we will also demand an explanation about the Committee’s interpretation concerning the membership status in the Folketrygden, he says and emphasizes that this may have implications also for other diver cases.

·      To us justice is the most important issue.

Earlier on, the committee leader Stein Husby has assessed that a more liberal interpretation  may cost the Norwegian government an extra one billion Kroner. He has argued that as many as 2000 foreign divers then may become entitled to compensation according to the Compensation Arrangement carried by Parliament in 2004.

·      I personally have doubts about this number, says Hagen.

·      But in any case, justice and equal treatment is the most important, he says.

An other member of the Divers Committee, Chief physician Kari Todnem, has pointed to unclear wording in the Terms of Reference and demanded a clarification from the responsible department and minister Dag Terje Andersen.


 

If any one out there is serious and can help to find the families, or who just wants more information please contact me directly:

Tom Wingen
Brunla Gård. N-3294 Stavern, Norway
Tel: (+47) 959 444 85 | E-mail: mail@pioneerdivers.org