Asbestos victims in Jersey will be entitled to compensation from next October.

It follows a petition launched after the death of islander Brian Coutanche, who developed mesothelioma from his career in construction.  It has drawn more than 1,300 signatures.

A proposition from Deputy Carina Alves has won unanimous support in the States.

” I am saddened it has taken this long for a compensation scheme like this to be proposed. I know that no amount of money can bring back someone’s life, but it is within our power to make someone’s last days that little bit more comfortable by providing a small level of compensation then we should do just that.”

32 people have been diagnosed with the asbestos-related disease in the island in the last seven years.

Deputy Mike Higgins went to school with Keith Shaw, who died from the disease in 2012.

He hopes action on dealing with asbestos is dealt with much better in future;

“By the States passing this today, this shows that they do care to try and help these people. But I certainly hope that if there are other buildings that have asbestos with broken panels, as there was at Highlands at the time, that the States, the Education Department and other departments will deal with it now rather than having people contracting the disease and having to seek compensation in the future.”

Jersey Asbestos Awareness, set up by Brian Coutanche’s daughter, gave this reaction on Facebook to the decision:

Some fantastic news!

We have just heard that the States have agreed a compensation scheme for Jersey mesothelioma victims! This was only possible with the extremely hard work of June Summers Shaw, Deputy Carina Alves and Dr Nigel Minihane and of course my dear Dad Brian Coutanche.

Thank you to all our friends and followers for your amazing support!

It is estimated a compensation scheme will cost £150,000-200,000 a year.

Social Security Minister Deputy Judy Martin will now bring forward a scheme before October 2019.