NO JUSTICE FOR PARIA DIVING VICTIMS

DON’T expect anyone to be hauled to account for the manslaughter of four divers of Paria Fuel Trading Company Ltd.

The 380-page report of the Jerome Lynch-headed Commission of Enquiry (CoE) is likely to suffer a dead-end fate similar to previous public probes into major wrongdoing.

In finding Paria liable for the deaths of the divers, the Lynch Committee called for a corporate manslaughter investigation.

The report is currently in the hands of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).

But previous CoE reports – including enquiries into Clico and the Hindu Credit Union – were turned over to the office of the DPP and no legal charges were laid.

Paria is chaired by Newman George, husband of Bridgid Annisette-George, Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Fayad Ali, Avie Chadee, Peter Clarke, Eustace Nancis and Reza Salim are the other directors.

The red tape surrounding the enquiry into the diving deaths means that justice is increasingly distant for the families of Rishi Nagassar, Kazim Ali Jr., Fyzal Kyrban, and Yusuf Henry.

Christopher Boodram was miraculously rescued.

The divers were sucked into a 30-inch underwater pipeline during maintenance work at Berth 6 in the Pointe-a-Pierre harbour.

The incident took place on February 25, 2022, and families have since been pressing for justice and accountability.

The CoE is reported to have cost taxpayers $15.5 million.

Last November, Lynch said: “Let’s be clear – there was no act of God or mere unlucky incident.”

He stressed: “It is imperative that we all ensure that this never happens again here or anywhere else.”

But, if the fate of this CoE follows the beaten path, the matter would fade away without anyone being made to pay for the divers’ deaths.

A recent media report tabulated that the last six CoEs cost at least $626 million, with no one being made to face legal charges.

Former senior Government Minister Winston Dookeran, speaking generally on CoEs last year, said that such enquiries as an “important tool” of governance.

Dookeran said the country’s system of governance is undermined when CoE recommendations are not implemented.

The enquiry into Clico was not made public, and Dookeran noted that “a lot of innocent people’s funds were affected.”

He queried: “How many people have been held accountable for causing this?”

At a function to observe the first anniversary of the incident, survivor Boodram said: “My wounds are still deeply open.”

He added: “Every day I get up with guilt. Every night I open my eyes this incident plays over and over.

“To me, it was just yesterday I was in that pipe.”

Almost two years after the dreadful industrial incident, there is still no sight of justice and a pathway to closure for the grieving families and an affected nation.