Surviving Paria diver: Police probe, a light after alot of darkness

CHRISTOPHER Boodram, the sole survivor of the Paria diving tragedy, says a police investigation into the tragedy offers him a glimmer of hope of justice for his four dead "brothers," their families and himself.

He made this comment in a statement sent to Newsday on July 31.

In a statement on July 30, Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Roger Gaspard, SC, told Commissioner of Police (CoP) Erla Harewood-Christopher to initiate criminal investigations to determine whether there is sufficient evidence to charge any person or entity with manslaughter by gross negligence over the February 25, 2022 tragedy.

On that day, Land Marine Construction Services (LMCS) divers Rishi Nagassar, Kazim Ali Jr, Fyzal Kurban, Yusuf Henry and Boodram were sucked into a 30-inch underwater pipeline belonging to Paria on which they were doing maintenance work.

Thet were trapped underwater in the pipeline. Only Boodram escaped.

He said, "I am extremely happy that the DPP has instructed that a criminal investigation be conducted by the TTPS (TT Police Service) into the Paria diving tragedy that claimed the lives of my four brothers and co-workers."

Boodram described every day since the tragedy happened two years ago as a never-ending nightmare from which he cannot wake up and a trauma which seems inescapable.

"Whilst I continue to suffer in silence, the Lord is my shepherd and I know he is beside me as I swim through the pipeline of death each day."

He recalled his testimony before the Paria Commission of Enquiry (CoE) last year.

Boodram wondered if he had relived the tragedy all over again on a public stage and if it was all for nothing.

"I have waited patiently and expectantly with each passing day hoping for a miracle in the form of some official sanction or action or compensation for the bereaved families."

Hope diminished each passing day for Boodram when he saw nothing was happening. He wondered if the tragedy and everything connected to it was being swept under a political carpet.

So he said the announcement of the police investigation "represents a candlelight in the darkness that has consumed me and become my world."

He acknowledged there will be a journey ahead for him and the families of his four friends, since no timeline has been set for the investigation.

Boodram expressed concern that the only people who have benefited from the CoE are the government and Paria's attorneys.

"I have not received one red cent from Paria."

On statements this week by Paria and LMCS about ex-gratia payments to the divers' families and himself, he said, "Neither Paria nor LMCS has admitted liability for negligence, yet they claim to be waiting for a proposal."

Boodram said nothing is stopping either company from making an ex-gratia payment "if they are serious about assisting the families."

At a news conference in San Fernando on July 30, attorney Prakash Ramadhar repeated his call for an ex-gratia payment of $5 million to each of the families

He said he is prepared before the start of the new law term in September to initiate legal action against Paria and LMCS, to ensure his clients are properly compensated. Ramadhar is the attorney for the Kurban family and Yusuf Henry's daughter Aliah.

Boodram asked what was the point of the CoE if no one is prepared to admit liability and offer compensation.

"Could they explain why they refused to do this in light of the damning findings in the report?"

In its report, the commission recommended that Paria be charged with corporate manslaughter, an offence the DPP said this week does not exist under TT law.

The commission also condemned Paria and LMCS for its treatment of the divers' families when the tragedy happened.

Last November, CoE chairman Jerome Lynch, KC, suggested an ex-gratia payment to the families could be considered a humane gesture to them. But Lynch said this was not his gift to give.

Boodram claimed he and the families are mere pawns in a political merry-go-round.

"No one seems to care for the poor man in this country."

He repeated his thanks to Gaspard for ordering the investigation, and appealed to Harewood-Christopher to help him and the families get justice.