Bodies of two drowned men resurface

Two days after disappearing in the Navet reservoir while on an illegal boating expedition, the bodies of Anthony Warrick and Basdeo Ramlal resurfaced Monday.

The bodies were bloated and fishes had already eaten away parts of the heads.

Ramlal’s brother Federlis said they noticed the bodies just after dawn, hours after Coast Guard divers and Fire Service Land and Rescue Special Unit officers abandoned their search on Sunday evening.

“When everybody left here, we stayed. We knew that the bodies would come up. We stood here throughout the night and looked. It floated up on its own,” Federlis said.

The bodies were viewed by District Medical Officer Dr Birja who ordered them removed to the Forensic Science Centre in Port of Spain.

Meanwhile Minister of the Environment and Water Resources, Ganga Singh said it was a clear breach of policy for employees to use the reservoir for recreational purposes, without adequate safety gear. “I want to extend sincere condolences to the bereaved families of the two men. It is not the policy of WASA to allow anyone to go for recreational purposes at the reservoirs at Caroni Arena, Navet or Hillsborough in Tobago,” Singh said. He added, “ It is a clear breach of policy for people to go off in a frolick in the dam without permission and without safety gears. Those who has safety gear survived.”

Singh noted that WASA’s management will have to reinforce their safety and security policy to all employees so that there will be no repeat of Saturday’s tragedy. Noting that is ample security at the formal entrances of the dam, Singh said it was difficult to prevent intrusion through the perimetres of the reservoirs. “The resewrvoirs are located on hundreds of acres of land. Navet has 5 billion gallons of water, Arena reservoir has nine billion gallons of water and the Hillsborough reservoir has six billion gallons,” Singh said.

He called on citizens to respect the reservoirs. “They are an asset for us. It is a national resource for us and we have to be careful not to allow any kind of interfence that will threaten our water supply,” Singh said.

He reiterated that WASA’s treatment process will ensure that its supply is not contaminated by the bodies.