Lee slams Paria's poor communications

POINTE-A-PIERRE MP David Lee on Monday accused Paria Fuel Trading Company of poor communications with the anxious families of four divers lost undersea at Pointe-a-Pierre while repairing an oil pipeline.

He was speaking at a briefing at the Opposition Leader's office in Port of Spain, hours after Energy Minister Stuart Young held a briefing announcing a committee to investigate and asking people not to speculate until findings were known.

The four men – Kazim Ali, Yusuf Henry, Fyzal Kurban and Rishi Nagassar – went missing on Friday, together with a colleague who was rescued. Young said they were sucked down into a U-shaped pipeline, and experts on site decided against an attempted rescue mission as being too risky.

Lee complained that at 4.50 pm on Sunday Paria had issued a statement saying efforts to find the divers continued – giving the families hope – but at a news briefing held later that evening by Paria chairman Newman George and general manager Mustaq Mohammed, the company said it had given up hope and did not believe the divers were alive.

Lee complained that Paria had not told the affected families ahead of the briefing, which was when they first heard the tragic news.

"If that is not callousness and wickedness, I don't know what is," he commented.

He welcomed Young's saying earlier on Monday that there were gaps in how Paria had handled the entire affair.

"The tragedy and the way the families are being treated is leaving a bitter taste in the mouths of the population. Paria management and board has failed the families of these divers."

Lee reiterated his previous upset at the families having to wait under a bus shed at Pointe-a-Pierre, a fact he had checked earlier on Monday as still continuing, lamenting they had been mistreated and treated inhumanely.

"They have heard nothing from Paria," he added.

He implored Young to contact Paria to relocate the families to more comfortable surroundings.

Lee recalled the families rejecting Paria's offer of counselling, as their energies were still focused on rescuing their menfolk.

Many people were also very opposed to Paria's statement that it intended to carry out a flushing out of the pipeline so as to retrieve the bodies, as this process could cause damage.

"At least meet the families before announcing that process."

Lee urged the Paria leadership to resign, namely George, Mohammed and the board. He was also upset at a previous statement from Paria that said the divers "fell into" a pipe and welcomed Young's explanation that they had been sucked in after something untoward had happened.

Lee also wanted relatives of the divers to be represented on the investigative committee.

"Family members should be allowed to have an individual of their choosing."

He disliked the idea of having an attorney on the committee, saying he hoped this did not signal any attempt to sanitise the findings. "We feel accountability and transparency is imperative."

He complained that months after a major blast at the NiQuan Gas-to-Liquids (GTL) plant at the Pointe-a-Pierre refinery, no report on an inquiry has been published.

Lee asked what the Coast Guard had done on Friday, given that one diver (Christopher Boodram) was rescued at 5 pm. He lamented that would-be rescuers were stopped.

"What happened in the window from 3-12 pm?"

Lee said such a repair job such as the one the men were doing would be preceded by months of preparation beforehand, including formulating a risk assessment, work programme, and safety plan, plus requisite work permits to operate in areas known as a hot space and a confined space. Saying every procedure must include a rescue plan, he said, "What happened?"