Opposition tells DPP: Prosecute Paria

NOW that the Commission of Enquiry (CoE) into the February 2022 Paria diving tragedy has come to a close, the Opposition believes the company should be prosecuted.

On February 25, 2022, Kazim Ali Jr, Fyzal Kurban, Yusuf Henry, Rishi Nagassar and Christopher Boodram were doing maintenance on a 30-inch pipeline at Berth 6, belonging to Paria Fuel Trading Co Ltd, Pointe-a-Pierre, but were sucked into the pipeline. Only Boodram survived.

A CoE into the incident was launched which saw witnesses including Boodram and top Paria officials, as well as LMCS officials, testify.

CoE chairman Jerome Lynch, KC, hopes the eventual report would improve local diving safety standards.

At a press conference in Port of Spain on Sunday, Opposition MP Rudranath Indarsingh said the Opposition is calling on Director of Public Prosecutions Roger Gaspard to "examine (the CoE's findings) with haste."

He accused Paria of failing to adhere to the Occupational and Safety Health Act (OSHA).

He added that such an incident should never happen in this country again.

He called on the Prime Minister to speak out on the matter as "a vow of silence is not an option in light of what has been unearthed by the CoE."

The Opposition also called for the full CoE report to be publicised.

Indarsingh said, "We do not want these reports to be sent to the Office of the AG for sanitisation and suppression of information. We want full disclosure and full publication."