Moonilal agrees with Paria condemnation

OROPOUCHE East MP Dr Roodal Moonilal agreed with the criticisms which Paria Commission of Enquiry (CoE) chairman Jerome Lynch KC made against Paria Fuel Trading Co Ltd and Land and Marine Construction Services Ltd (LMCS) for the way they dealt with the families of four divers who died in an incident on Paria's premises, Pointe-a-Pierre, last year.

Lynch made his criticisms against both companies during an evidentiary hearing held by the CoE at Tower D of the Port of Spain International Waterfront Centre on Tuesday. At a hearing on Monday at the same venue, Lynch dismissed a request by Paria not to allow relatives of the divers to make statements before the commission.

Kazim Ali Jr, Fyzal Kurban, Yusuf Henry, Rishi Nagassar and Christopher Boodram were doing routine maintenance on a 30-inch pipeline at Berth 6, belonging to Paria, on February 25, 2022, when they were sucked into the pipeline. Only Boodram survived. All five men were LMCS employees.

Addressing a news conference at the Opposition Leader's Office in Port of Spain on Wednesday, Moonilal had no idea where the specific instruction to Paria's legal team for the divers' relatives not to address the commission could have come from.

"The Government would have instructed their lawyers act in a particular way. I am clear that the Government did not want the voice of the families (of the divers) to be heard in that matter."

Moonilal recalled meeting with relatives last February at Paria's carpark in Pointe-a-Pierre, shortly after the incident happened.

He said he was concerned about "the lack of political involvement (by the Government).

Had the UNC-led People's Partnershiip coalition still been in office, Moonilal opined that UNC political leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar and other senior government officials would have been there to comfort the families. and directing efforts to help the divers.

"There was a complete absence of the government and the company and that is why decisions were not taken."