Paria commission remembers divers with sorrow

A minute of silence was observed for the four divers who died in the Paria tragedy at the formal opening of the commission of enquiry (COE) on Wednesday.

Commission chairman Jerome Lynch, QC, said it was right that they should be remembered with sorrow and compassion.

“Not just them, but their families and friends who grieve for them. I would ask you to please join with me and observe a minute of silence as a mark of respect for those men who have died and for those whose lives have been changed forever,” the Jamaican jurist asked those present.

On behalf of himself and his fellow commissioner, subsea specialist Gregory Wilson, he expressed “our heartfelt sadness and suffering and despair caused by this loss of life.

“We are acutely aware these men were fathers and sons, brothers and cousins, friends and colleagues and breadwinners and confidants who provided joy to many.”

While noting that the enquiry cannot bring back, Fyzal Kurban, Rishi Nagassar, Kazim Ali Jr and Yusuf Henry, “it can and it will provide answers to the inevitable questions of how a tragedy of this kind could occur in today’s society.”

Saying he hopes the commission can provide some small solace to all, Lynch also said he was shocked.

“Such an incident in a modern country, used to dealing with the extraction of oil and gas and the maintenance of machinery necessary to effect such extraction, is both surprising and tragic in the 21st century.”

He noted that “194 days ago, four men died when something happened that caused them to be sucked into a 30-inch pipeline stretching across the seabed from Berth six to Berth five.

“The facts are undoubtedly tragic,” he said pledging to get to the truth, leaving no stone unturned.

Lynch has set aside four sets of four days each for hearing – November 21-25, December 5-8 and 12-15 and as a contingency, January 9=13,, 2023, although he said hopefully that January hearing would not be necessary.

He said a draft report should be completed by Easter.