Canton requests additional CHF10 million for Crans-Montana fire victims

Victims: the State of Valais asks the Grand Council for 10 million euros Keystone-SDA

The Valais Cantonal Government is submitting a draft decree to local parliament for support for the victims of the fire in Crans-Montana. It is requesting an additional credit of CHF10.18 million ($12.71 million), of which CHF7.8 million will be reimbursed by the federal government.

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The deadly fire that occurred on New Year’s Day has given rise to urgent and concrete needs for the victims and their families: loss of income, immediate hospitalisation costs, organisation of funerals, repatriation, administrative and legal procedures, the government said in a press release on Tuesday.

On January 14, the government decided to make available a one-off lump-sum emergency aid payment of CHF10,000 per beneficiary, and to cover funeral and repatriation costs. The draft decree authorises the payment of this CHF10,000 on a non-refundable basis.

For its part, on March 20 the Swiss Parliament, acting on a proposal from the federal government, adopted an urgent federal law providing for the granting of a one-off solidarity contribution of CHF50,000 per entitled person. This amount will be paid to the canton of Valais, which will pre-finance the benefit for the victims.

Circle of beneficiaries clarified

The total additional credit of CHF10.18 million includes CHF1.56 million for non-refundable emergency aid of CHF10,000, CHF820,000 for funeral expenses and repatriation of the bodies and CHF7.8 million for pre-financing of the government solidarity contribution. This CHF7.8 million will then be reimbursed by the federal government.

With this decree, the Valais government is also specifying the circle of beneficiaries of federal and cantonal contributions. Under the proposed provisions, cantonal emergency aid and the federal solidarity contribution “shall be granted for each person who dies and for each seriously injured person who spends at least one night in hospital”.

Cases of hardship

The draft decree “also provides for the possibility of granting this aid, as a hardship case, to some of the 31 victims who were not hospitalised but received outpatient treatment”. At their request, depending on the objective seriousness of the physical injuries and provided that outpatient treatment was provided, federal and cantonal aid may also be granted, the government writes.

The decision concerning these hardship cases “will be based on medical criteria established by health professionals working together within a Clinical Assessment Commission”, the press release continues.

Finally, the text of the decree submitted to cantonal parliament aims to allow a strictly limited exchange of information between authorities, in order to ensure the necessary coordination and prevent duplication of care, the Senate stresses. Extraordinary financial assistance will be paid by the Social Action Service, in close coordination with the partners concerned.

‘Beloved’ foundation

The “Beloved” foundation was created with an initial capital of CHF1 million for its operations. In addition to the CHF10 million provided by the canton of Valais, pledges currently stand at around CHF24 million, including CHF7 million from the Vaud government, CHF1 million from the municipality of Crans-Montana and CHF6 million from private entities and individuals.

Translated from French by AI/jdp

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