Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-12-16-Speech-4-159"
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"en.20041216.12.4-159"2
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"Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, in today’s debate we are discussing issues we do not usually touch upon. The issues we generally debate are important, but they relate to financial perspectives, communications solutions and economic matters. These are all extremely important issues, but they are not tragic.
The three items on the agenda for today’s afternoon debate, and in particular the third item on Bhopal, concern one of the greatest tragedies to have occurred during the past few decades. This item relates to a tragedy in which a gas explosion caused the immediate death of several tens of thousands of people. The consequences of this explosion are unfortunately still being felt today. The institutions and persons to be named shortly are responsible for this sad state of affairs.
The organisations which are to blame for what happened have admitted their guilt, as they have paid out compensation for the deaths of 15 248 people. They have also paid out compensation to 554 895 individuals who have fallen ill or become disabled, whilst attempting to pay such compensation to as few people as possible. Broad estimates suggest that over 100 000 people have suffered as a result of the gas explosion in Bhopal 25 years ago, and millions are still suffering to this day due to environmental pollution. What happened in the aftermath of the event? Following an agreement and various court rulings, the guilty party, Union Carbide Corporation India, paid out USD 470 million in compensation. This would appear to be no mean sum, but the victims of the explosion received less than 10% of the money. The rest went to the lawyers. In passing, it is worth noting that even in Dickens’ tales of 150 years ago, in which he enjoyed describing predatory lawyers, there are no instances of a victim receiving virtually nothing. The money vanished, because in addition to paying the lawyers’ fees, large amounts were allegedly used to pay off corrupt officials.
It is intolerable that everyone has made money from this tragedy except its victims. We are witnesses to a conspiracy, and action must be taken to put things right. This is the aim of the motion for a resolution we are to adopt today. We must endeavour to reassess the damage, so that compensation is paid to those entitled to it. We must ensure that bodies are appointed which can resolve this problem fairly."@en1
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