Funeral for drowned fisherman

THE funeral of Ronald Narinesingh, whose body washed ashore on Monday, will be held tomorrow at his Calcutta No 2 home from 9 am. He will then be cremated at the Waterloo Cremation site.

However, the family of Chunilal Gyandass, 53, whose body washed ashore along with Narinesingh’s, are holding out hope of either finding his brother Siewnarine Gyandass, 51, alive or recovering his body in time for a joint funeral.

Yesterday, the Gyandass family continued their vigil, praying for the sea to return their loved one, who, along with Vinesh Marlo, is still missing.

They were among six men who went on a fishing expedition from Carli Bay, Couva, last Sunday, but their flat-bottomed boat overturned. Two of the men, Kumar Lalla, 49, and Glen “Dave” Prahalad, 32, swam to safety.

The Gyandass family matriarch, Etwaria Gyandass could not be reached by phone, but MP for the area Rudranath Indarsingh, who has been in contact with the family, said she is very distraught over the loss of one son and the uncertainty of the fate of the other.

Indarsingh said Etwaria is still optimistic that her younger son, by some miracle, survived the tragedy. He said Chunilal’s death was registered on Holy Thursday, “but no funeral arrangements have been made as yet, as his mother and relatives are praying and hoping that he would be found alive, or, if not, that she can have a single funeral for her two sons.”

Indarsingh was also critical of the response of the Coast Guard, which has been patrolling the Gulf of Paria in search of the two missing men. He said there has been no communication between Coast Guard personnel and the men’s families.

“They have not come ashore or spoken to the families to let them know what geographic areas they have covered. We don’t mind if they have searched and come up empty-handed, but tell the grieving family something.”

He said he has been in contact with National Security Minister Stuart Young to press upon him the urgency of this matter, and pleaded with him to engage air guards to do aerial searches.