Paria victims' relatives unmoved by enquiry's apology for delayed report

Relatives of the divers in the February 2022 Paria Fuel Company Ltd tragedy are not swayed by the apology from Jerome Lynch KC, the chairman of the Commission of Enquiry (CoE), who requested a further extension to submit the final report.

“It is ridiculous because we were looking forward to it on August 30. We did not get it, and now they have come up with this again. It is really upsetting,” widow Celisha Kurban told Newsday.

Her husband Fyzal Kurban was one of four divers who died after being sucked into a 30-inch underwater pipeline belonging to Paria while doing maintenance work on February 25, 2022.

Kurban said a large sum of money has already been spent on the CoE, and that the affected families’ financial statuses have not been considered.

“My husband was the breadwinner. I am just waiting for the final report to see what they have to say. We hope for justice and want to see people behind bars.”

The other deceased divers were Yusuf Henry, Kazim Ali Jr and Rishi Nagassar, all of Land and Marine Contracting Services Ltd (LMCS). One co-worker and friend, Christopher Boodram, survived.

At a news conference on Wednesday, Lynch apologised and addressed the commission’s further extension to November 30 to submit its final report. In a signed letter dated August 30, President Christine Kangaloo approved the extension.

Nagassar’s wife, Vanessa Kussie also expressed disappointment over the extension, adding the family was hoping to get closure earlier. She recalled details of the tragedy and made allegations against the Government on how the families were treated.

“We pray that the final decision is the right one. Every time they ask for an extension, we have to go over this again and again. They keep opening up fresh wounds and putting pressure on the families. It is sad and upsetting, Kussie added.

She is also a member of the UNC and was recently elected as councillor for Couva West/Roystonia after local government elections on August 14.

Newsday called the lone survivor, but a relative answered his cell phone, saying she preferred him to comment. But at the time, he was unavailable.

Calls to other relatives went unanswered.

The CoE's final report was initially set to be ready by “Easter 2023,” meaning in April.

At that time, Lynch said, he did not know the CoE would have had 78 witnesses generating about 3,350 pages of detailed evidence and about 13,500 pages of exhibits.

“I leave aside videos, audios, pictures, transcripts, letters and other correspondence,” Lynch said.

“In truth, at the time, I knew little of the material we would have to work through, but I was, and remained optimistic of an expeditious timetable in the interests of those most affected by this tragedy.”

The report was extended to May, then to August 30, and now November 30.