Accra, July 4, GNA - Dr Kwame Addo-Kufuor, Minister of Defence, on Tuesday said it was important for civilians, who boarded military aircraft to know that such aircraft were not insured and, therefore, in the case of an accident they would not be covered by any insurance.
He said military aircraft, mostly used for combat, were not insured and this was in line with international practice.
He said the Ghana Armed Forces only allowed civilians who flew on such aircrafts to sign an indemnity certificate.
Dr Addo-Kufuor said this response to a supplementary question from Mr John Mahama, NDC-Bole Bamboi, in Parliament.
Mr Mahama had asked about what was being done to make civilians aware of the risks involved in boarding these aircraft since increasingly the public, including Ministers of State and Members of Parliament, were patronizing the services of these aircraft.
The Minister said perhaps civilians, who travelled, as a group, in these aircraft should take a collective insurance cover for themselves. Dr Addo-Kufuor had earlier told the House that compensation had not yet been paid to the family of a civilian nurse, Victor Adu Nyarko, who died in a military helicopter crash together with six others in the Atiwa Forest, because it was the duty of the family of the deceased to make appropriate legal representation for compensation, in answer to another question from Mr Mahama.
=93Mr Speaker, appropriate compensation has been paid to the families of the accident victims, who were in the employment of the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF). I must emphasise that the payments were effected in accordance with the GAF regulations as already mentioned. It is rather unfortunate that the estate of the late Victor Adu Nyarko, the civilian nurse at the Nkawkaw Holy Family Hospital, has not yet made any representation for compensation for consideration," Dr Addo-Kufuor said. He said claims of such accident victims, not employed by GAF, were handled by the Finance Ministry and it was for the family of the late nurse to go in for letters of administration and to pursue the other legal processes for compensation.
"Even though Victor Adu Nyarko is not employed by GAF his presence was legitimately required on the trip to provide information on the condition of the patients, on arrival at the Hospital. When the request is made from Victor Adu Nyarko's estate, it will be accorded its deserved attention on its merits," he said.
In 2002, a military helicopter conveying two accident victims accompanied by seven people including the civilian nurse crashed at the Atiwa Forest killing all on board.
Mr Joe Ghartey, Minister of Justice and Attorney-General, who was also in the House to answer some questions, told Members that the Judicial Service had proposed that a number of Magistrate's Courts would commence sitting at weekends in Accra in October 2006. He said the modalities were still being worked out and the public would be kept informed.
He said these courts would be manned by career Magistrates including the First Batch of 27 Magistrates, who undertook the Career Magistrate Course in 2003.
He said the weekend sittings would be extended to Takoradi and Kumasi depending on the success of the programme in Accra. Mr Alfred Agbesi, NDC-Ashaiman, in another question, wanted to find out about plans to open a court in Ashaiman and the Minister said District Assemblies were expected to provide courts and accommodation for Judges and Magistrates.
Mr Ghartey said so far 88 Assemblies had provided premises for courts in their districts.
He said it was the hope that the Tema Municipal Assembly and other assemblies would do the same to help the Judicial Service to promote the administration of justice in the country.
