PM uncertain if report on fatal NiQuan accident will be made public

THE Prime Minister is uncertain whether the report from the Energy Ministry's investigation into the death of a Massy Energy worker injured at a NiQuan Energy Ltd plant can be made public.

This, he said, is because NiQuan is a private legal entity.

Dr Rowley was responding to a question from Opposition MP Dr Roodal Moonilal in Parliament on Tuesday.

Last Thursday, Massy Energy employee Allan Lane Ramkissoon was injured at the company's gas-to-liquids plant.

He suffered burns to around 40 per cent of his body, and further injuries when he jumped ten feet to escape the flames in the room where he was trapped.

In a release on Sunday, the company said he died at a specialist burns unit in Colombia.

In April 2021, there was an explosion at this plant after its hydrocracker system failed during an attempted startup. The company told Newsday the incident was “a serious equipment failure.

“This resulted in the blowout of the DA-301 system, part of the product cleaning process, and caused a fire," it said then.

NiQuan, the Energy Ministry, the Occupational Safety and Health Authority and Agency (OSHA) and the Environmental Management Authority then launched investigations into the blast.

Asked for the findings of NiQuan's investigation, Rowley said it could not be publicised.

Opposition whip
David Lee then asked if any of the findings were linked to the incident resulting in Ramkissoon's death.

Rowley reiterated that the Energy Ministry is investigating the "very tragic" matter.

Lee then asked if Ramkissoon's family would be able to access the report.

Rowley said, "I would await the nature of the report.

"It all depends on what the report is and whose report it is. But once the circumstances and the legal authorities permit, then the relevant minister would make that commitment. I would not presume to make it."

He later added, "If it can be made public under the specific authorities, then it will be. If it's, on the other hand, a report coming from the company, then of course, we have constraints."

He reminded the Opposition: "These things are guided by commercial controls and legal controls."