Deputy Matt Fallaize led the campaign for the scheme, and he faced some criticism in the States Assembly that it was ‘policy making on the hoof’.
Despite that, States members overwhelming agreed that the project should be in place in January 2021, but they backed away from a potential earlier date of July next year.
It is estimated that there are around 10 living islanders who have been diagnosed with mesothelioma following exposure to asbestos.
The condition is virtually a death sentence because there is no cure, and sufferers are usually given one or two years to live after diagnosis.
Deputy Fallaize had forced the issue into the Assembly with two amendments to the Employment & Social Security policy letter because he was frustrated by the States’ broken promises and delays.
He told States members that the case for a local scheme was very strong.
‘There is clear evidence that back in the 1970s and 80s in particular, Guernsey delayed regulating asbestos in the workplace long after there was a growing body of evidence that it was extremely hazardous and indeed possibly fatal.
‘Some workers in Guernsey went on being casually surrounded by asbestos unnecessarily for years and without knowing the risks.’
The idea is that newly diagnosed victims will receive lump sums of between £14,000 and £92,000 and it is estimated the overall plan would cost the States approximately £100,000 each year.
Guernsey is one of the last civilised places in the world not to have a mesothelioma compensation scheme. Jersey introduced its programme earlier this year.
Deputy Fallaize stressed that the main thing that sufferers wanted was not money for themselves, but something to help their loved ones when they are gone.
‘Sadly, as a government we cannot put right the lax regulations of the 70s and 80s, but we can provide those who are now suffering with some peace of mind.
‘When I have met sufferers of mesothelioma very often that is their primary concern, it’s not so much their own fate, but is what happens to their families when they die.’
All States members agreed that mesothelioma was a terrible disease, but some questioned why mesothelioma was being singled out from other conditions.
Deputy Gavin St Pier did not want to appear ‘churlish’, but criticised a ‘scant’ level of detail and called it policy making on the hoof.
‘I don’t know how many people will be eligible to this, I don’t know how many are likely to benefit from it, I don’t know what period of residence they will have had in the island. Will they have had to work in the island, will they have to have contracted this while they were here, will their dependants receive it if they die?
‘I don’t have the foggiest clue.’
Deputy Fallaize was very nearly successful in getting the compensation scheme in place next year, but the tied vote of 17-17 meant his first amendment fell.
The second amendment with a timeframe of January 2021 was passed by 32 votes to 2.
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