Through his interpreter Mamaun Al Feruz, Hossain said he lost his medicine, valuable personal belongings, including high quality clothes and the only CD of his wedding day.
He arrived on Saipan on the Dhaka-Singapore-Seoul flight of Asiana on July 12 after vacationing in Bangladesh. He said he had three pieces of luggage with him.
At the Francisco C. Ada/Saipan International Airport, however, Hossain said he only retrieved two pieces of his luggage. They contained goods sent by family members in Bangladesh to his friends on Saipan.
“My personal belongings, including my medicine, are all in that lost luggage,” he said.
He said Asiana has been ignoring his pleas for almost four months now.
“Is it because we are nonresident workers only?” he asked.
Hossain is suffering from a gastric ulcer and needs daily medication to maintain his health.
He used to work at a construction firm but is now jobless.
Since July, Al Feruz said they’ve been asking Asiana management about the lost luggage and have talked with In Tak Hwang, the senior manager of the airport service office.
Al Feruz said the management offered to pay $20 per kilo for the lost luggage.
In a separate interview, Hwang said they attended to the complaint of Hossain.
“We did tell him we will compensate but they don’t want our offer,” he said.
Hwang said they’ve been waiting for Hossain to call or visit their office.
Al Feruz immediately went to Asiana’s office upon learning from this reporter that Hwang was waiting for Hossain.
Al Feruz later told Variety the airline management offered $600 as compensation.
“We did not accept because even the medicine alone cost $700 here on Saipan,” he said.
Al Feruz said Asiana is determined not to pay $2,950 which, he added, is the total cost of the medicine and other belongings in the lost luggage.
He said they are now contemplating legal action against Asiana.
