radhica.sookraj@guardian.co.tt
As the probe into the Paria Fuel diving tragedy continues, calls are being made for the Occupational Safety and Health Agency (OSHA) to explain why it took almost two weeks to issue prohibition notices to stop Paria Fuel Trading Company and LMCS from operating in the zone where four divers died in February.
Attorney Prakash Ramadhar, who is representing the families of two of the dead divers, said there have been concerns about the possibility of interference in the ongoing OSHA investigation.
“I am concerned that they took that long a period to cordon off and do investigations. The country is also alert to possibilities of interference,” Ramadhar said, noting that despite everything the truth will be revealed.
“When a person has to go into a witness box and be examined, a lot of truth will come out. I am not too worried that in the long term, the truth will come out and in the long term, those responsible for failures will have to answer for it.”
He noted, however, that OSHA has a duty to explain the scenario to the taxpayers.
“We had written to the agency in any event that they should explain why it took two weeks for a site to be cordoned off and protected. That could have been a very quick effort to investigate so that the business of Paria could continue unimpeded. So coming two weeks after, I don’t know what the consequences of that would be on Paria’s business to earn income for the benefit of all of T&T.”
Progressive Empowerment Party leader Phillip Edward Alexander also said OSHA had questions to answer.
“In matters like this, we would have expected a lot more transparency and independence of any agency charged with the responsibility to investigate who was wrong.”
He said the relationship between OSHA, Paria and the government created a lot of doubt in the minds of citizens.
“Thirteen days is a ridiculous amount of time for sanitization of the scene to take place. They were supposed to respond immediately upon learning of the accident and the tragedy that took place. To allow that much time to pass created so much opportunity for the site to be disturbed. The investigation would be muddied by outside interference. This has all been a travesty on top of a tragedy,” Alexander said.
Guardian Media has been sending questions to OSHA since Monday seeking explanations to a range of questions. However, these have not been answered.
In an email last week, OSHA’s communications and Outreach manager Kendall Reid revealed that the prohibition notice against Paria Fuel Trading Limited was issued on 10 March, while LMCS was served a prohibition notice on 11 March 2022.”
Reid said the OSH Agency has, however, had an active presence on Paria’s premises since the incident occurred. He denied that OSHA was facing any sort of political interference seeing that the Agency’s Executive director reports to the Minister of Labour.
Explaining the process, Reid said: “Pursuant to s. 70(2) of the OSH Act Chap. 88:08 the Chief Inspector reports to the Executive Director of the Agency. Also, the Executive Director is a part of the OSH Authority which comprises of 17 members from various bodies as prescribed by the OSH Act, which has a reporting duty to the Minister of Labour via the Chairman.”
He noted that persecuting public institutions and private companies for violation of safety practices, has been done before.
“OSHA, like all statutory institutions, must have systems of accountability which in itself does not constitute political interference,” Reid said.
He noted, “Additionally, OSHA has a history of issuing enforcement notices against public institutions and prosecuting them as well as against private companies without fear or favour.”
