rishard.khan@guardian.co.tt
United National Congress (UNC) MP Rudranath Indarsingh is questioning why the Commission of Enquiry is yet to begin work on the accident at Paria that claimed the lives of four divers earlier this year.
“We must ask the question why has the Commission of Enquiry into the deaths of Yusuf Henry, Rishi Nagessar, Kazim Ali Jr, and Fyzal Kurban still not started?” Indarsingh said at a press conference on Sunday.
“It is abominable that after over 123 days after the deaths of these four divers involved in the Paria pipeline incident, this Government has still not commenced the work of the Commission of Enquiries into the deaths of these divers.”
Indarsingh said the commission’s inactivity, “speaks volumes of the regard that this Government has for the issue of justice and about their lack of concern for the lives of these men and their families.”
Apart from a display of disregard, Indarsingh said another possibility is the Government is delaying the inquest to avoid the issue.
“The government is deliberately dragging its feet to avoid any investigation which may see friends and associates of the Prime Minister’s inner circle being identified as responsible and accountable for this industrial murder of these men.”
Underscoring his disappointment with the situation, Indarsingh said, “It seems as though we must now appoint a Commission of Enquiry to determine why the Commission of Enquiry has to date failed to commission an enquiry into this matter.”
He said such an incident would not have occurred under a UNC government as Petrotrin would still be functioning with emphasis placed on health and safety.
“Under a United National Congress government, Petrotrin was alive, well and healthy with the needed processes and the human and technical resources to ensure that workplace safety at Petrotrin was thriving and any emerging breaches were attended to,” he said.
He said a UNC-led Government would have also ensured a prompt investigation was launched if any similar incident occurred.
