MH370: Ministry to meet PM over compensation for next-of kin

The Transport Ministry is expected to meet Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin next week to present a cabinet paper on compensation to the next-of-kin of the victims on board MH370 which went missing six years ago.

Its secretary-general, Isham Ishak, said the compensation would be an out-of-court settlement for the suits filed by the beneficiaries of the victims concerned against the Malaysian government and related agencies.

"I have submitted my request to meet the prime minister next week so that I can present the paper. I will try my best to get the support that you guys have been longing for the last six years," he said at a gathering yesterday to commemorate the sixth anniversary of MH370's disappearance.

Isham said the ministry would also continue to seek support from the new government to resume the search for the missing aircraft.

"I know there's a lot of hope in this room and I can feel that. Who else would you put your heart on, hope on, apart from the government of Malaysia," he said.

Also present at the event, attended by the next-of-kin of the MH370 victims, was former transport minister Anthony Loke Siew Fook.

Loke said he was supposed to present a paper at a cabinet meeting scheduled on February 26, but was not able to do so due to the recent political turmoil.

“The memorandum is crucial because, through it, we have obtained an agreement from lawyers representing the beneficiaries of the victims to settle the summons cases out of court and compensate them," he said. 

Loke expressed his regret not being able to push the matter further but said he would meet the new transport minister, once the person has been appointed, to request that the search for the missing plane be resumed.

Flight MH370, which was carrying 239 passengers and crew, disappeared from radar shortly after taking off from KL International Airport en route to Beijing on March 8, 2014. — Bernama