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SATURDAY, DECEMBER 4, 1982
$72M PAID OUT TO TRAFFIC ACCIDENT VICTIMS
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THE FAMILY OF A MAN WHO DIED IN A BUS CRASH ON NOVEMBER 14 AT TUEN MUN HIGHWAY HAS RECEIVED $31 300 UNDER THE TRAFFIC ACCIDENT VICTIMS ASSISTANCE (TAVA) SCHEME ADMINISTERED BY THE SOCIAL WELFARE DEPARTMENT.
THE MONEY WAS PAID TO THE FAMILY FIVE DAYS AFTER THE ACCIDENT.
OTHER PAYMENTS, AMOUNTING TO $33 600, WERE GIVEN TO 29 PEOPLE WHO WERE INJURED IN THE SAME ACCIDENT. SEVERAL OF THEM RECEIVED THE CASH ASSISTANCE TWO OR THREE DAYS AFTER THE APPLICATIONS WERE MADE.
+THE SCHEME, WHICH IS NON-MEANS-TESTED, PROVIDES QUICK CASH RELIEF FOR TRAFFIC ACCIDENT VICTIMS OR THE IR DEPENDANTS REGARDLESS OF WHO WAS AT FAULT IN CAUSING THE ACCIDENT, BUT IT MUST HAVE BEEN REPORTED TO THE POLICE, SAID MR SIU KING-CHIU, THE HEAD OF THE DEPARTMENT'S TAVA SECTION.
PEOPLE INVOLVED MUST APPLY WITHIN SIX MONTHS OF THE ACCIDENT AT THE TAVA SECTION AT THE WORLD TRADE CENTRE, 14TH FLOOR, 280 GLOUCESTER ROAD, CAUSEWAY BAY. ENQUIRIES MAY BE MADE BY CALLING 5-779421 OR 5-7903650.
+THERE WERE SEVERAL MAJOR TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS IN OCTOBER AND WE AUTHORISED PAYMENTS ON AN AVERAGE OF 10 WORKING DAYS,+ MR SIU SAID.
BY THE END OF OCTOBER, THE DEPARTMENT HAD PAID OUT NEARLY $72 MILLION UNDER THE SCHEME SINCE ITS INTRODUCTION THREE YEARS AGO.
PAYMENT HAD BEEN AUTHORISED FOR 16 648 APPLICATIONS OUT
OF A TOTAL 19 482 RECEIVED.
+ABOUT 370 APPLICATIONS ARE BEING PROCESSED AND THE APPLICANTS SHOULD BE ABLE TO RECEIVE PAYMENTS SHORTLY, MR SIU SAID.
OF THE 25 202 PAYMENTS MADE SO FAR, 1 314 INVOLVED DEATHS AND 23 888 RELATED TO INJURY CASES.
+PAYMENTS FOR FATAL CASES AMOUNTED TO MORE THAN $12 MILLION WHILE INJURY PAYMENTS TOTALLED $59.3 MILLION, OF WHICH $17.7 MILLION WAS PAID AS FURTHER GRANTS TO THOSE WHO SUBSEQUENTLY REQUIRED EXTENDED SICK LEAVE, HE SAID.
+THE HIGHEST PAYMENT SO FAR WAS $32 900 AWARDED IN ONE FATAL CASE, HE ADDED.
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