KUALA LUMPUR – The Transport Ministry is ready to aid the next-of-kin of those onboard the missing Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 in claiming compensation which they had previously rejected as they held on to hopes of passengers’ return.
Addressing the Dewan Rakyat today, Transport Minister Anthony Loke (Seremban-PH) confirmed that there are several families of victims onboard the ill-fated flight who have refused to accept compensation due to a number of personal reasons.
“We have already previously completed compensation payments to the next-of-kins, but there is a small number of them who were unwilling to take the compensation,” Loke said in response to an additional question from PAS MP Shaharizukirnain Abd Kadir (Setiu-PN).
“The deadline (to claim compensation) has already passed, but the Transport Ministry is of the stance that if the next-of-kins are willing to accept (the funds) now, we are open to discussing (the matter) and acting as an intermediary between them and the airline company.
“(The decision to not initially accept compensation) was due to personal reasons, (among which was) they felt that there is still hope for their family members to return,” he added.
Loke also said that he is “not sure” of the current status of court proceedings in China involving suits initiated by families of MH370’s passengers who are seeking compensation from Malaysia Airlines, its insurer Allianz, aircraft manufacturer Boeing and the plane’s engine manufacturer Rolls-Royce.
Additionally, Loke affirmed Putrajaya’s commitment to recovering the wreckage of the plane, which went missing on March 8, 2014, en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, taking along with it 239 lives.
Following that, massive search operations involving several countries were conducted in the southern Indian Ocean, but neither the plane nor its wreckage were ever found.
Loke said that the Transport Ministry is still negotiating and holding discussions on marine exploration company Ocean Infinity’s (OI) offer to continue search efforts after a proposal was presented to the ministry in June.
“The location of the new search area suggested by OI is based on information and analysis of latest data which has been presented by experts and researchers referred to by the company.
“OI’s operational search recommendations are credible propositions which can be considered by the Malaysian government,” he said.
In June 2022, OI held a meeting with Loke’s predecessor, Datuk Seri Wee Ka Siong (Ayer Hitam-BN), with the company sharing its readiness to resume the search operation for MH370 based on a “no find, no fee” deal.
The revived talks came after the government, in October 2017, began discussions with OI on its search attempts, following which the company started a search in January 2018.
The search ended in June, the same year after the OI failed to locate the aircraft despite searching more than 112,000 sq km of the ocean floor over three months. – November 5, 2024