Unfortunate remarks

ASKED by a reporter on February 3 if there is a capacity deficit in dealing with fatal incidents in the oil and gas industry in the wake of the 2022 Paria diving tragedy and the recent collapse of Rig 110, Energy Minister Stuart Young was unequivocal.

“The answer is no,” Mr Young said, “because you see this, unfortunately, taking place in hydrocarbon economies and sectors across the world, and that is why you have these international operators.”

He continued, “It is always unfortunate. Every loss of life is unfortunate. And it is something that we don’t want, but sometimes, unfortunately, we have to deal with. All right?”

The minister was referring to the case of Pete Philip, 45, the worker who vanished after the partial collapse of Well Services Petroleum Co Ltd’s rig on December 22 and whose body is yet to be recovered.

Before being asked the question, Mr Young had already described that latest incident as “unfortunate,” and said Mr Philip’s body had, “unfortunately,” not been found.

But this incident is not merely unfortunate.

Tragic, gut-wrenching, horrific, appalling, alarming – those are the kinds of words that match the grim situation in which a worker reports to work and ends up paying the ultimate price. It is the stuff of nightmares, worthy of the strongest language, not tepid platitudes.

What is truly unfortunate is Mr Young’s tone-deafness.

This is not just a matter of his seeming inability to reach for a thesaurus.

It is about a failure to meet the moment and to give the national community, including grieving family members, the leadership needed at times of tragedy.

The minister doubled down on his original remarks on February 4, reposting them on social media in full. In the process, he seems not to have fully grasped or accepted that there was something amiss in how he spoke.

Making this particularly disappointing is the fact that the Port of Spain North/St Ann’s West MP is a former minister of communications. He is also a lawyer by training. Presumably, he is versed in the nuance of words.

That these comments were off the cuff does not fully absolve or explain them. Rather, their improvised nature only underlines the sense of something careless.

We have seen this cavalier approach to language before from the prime-minister-in-waiting, such as in his infamous parliamentary jabs and in a recent claim about the use of “misinformation.”

Trade-union leader Ancel Roget is arguably correct to suggest there is room to discern a sense of comfort or banality within the politician’s words, notwithstanding Mr Young’s best efforts to express sympathy for and solidarity with Mr Philip’s family.

It is truly worrying how unprepared the minister was to answer this question appropriately.