Kevon Felmine
After having his application to exclude diving instructor Dr Glen Cheddie from providing expert evidence to the Commission of Enquiry (CoE) into the Paria/LMCS tragedy denied, Paria Fuel Trading’s attorney, Gilbert Peterson SC, ripped apart the witness’ credentials, forcing his appearance to be cut short.
Following a break, CoE chairman Jerome Lynch brought Cheddie back into the room, telling him there was no need to take a seat as there were no more questions for him and thanked him for coming.
It came at the urging of Peterson, who pointed out that Cheddie had confessed that he was not an expert and was not a witness to the February 25, 2022, incident, which claimed the lives of LMCS divers Fyzal Kurban, Kazim Ali Jr, Yusuf Henry and Rishi Nagassar.
Peterson told Lynch that the CoE should not waste time with Cheddie and proceed to In-Corr-Tech, who could assist the CoE.
Lynch said he did not need much persuasion.
Cheddie was a witness provided to the CoE by the Seamen and Waterfront Workers Trade Union (SWWTU) to assist the CoE with an expert opinion.
Lynch told SWWTU attorney Nyree Alfonso that there were already issues with the lateness of Cheddie’s statement to the CoE.
“It would be very difficult for this commission to rely on what he has said given his confession that he is a) not an expert and b) that he had asserted he was a lawyer when he clearly is not. Those facts alone call into question the extent to which we will be able to rely on his evidence,” Lynch said.
Lynch also referred to the cross-examination of Cheddie by Kenson’s counsel, Chase Pegus. Pegus challenged a conversation Cheddie referred to in his witness statement with Heritage dive expert Rolph Seales on the night of the incident.
During Monday’s sitting, Cheddie said he was a lawyer, but under an intense examination, Peterson pointed out that he was not an attorney called to the Bar.
While admitting he was not one but a Sports Law Consultant, Cheddie said he did not lie but made a mistake. Lynch asked why Cheddie did not clarify that before.
However, Cheddie said he was waiting for an opportunity. Peterson quipped that he hoped the Law Association was paying attention to the proceedings, asking Cheddie if he knew that portraying himself as a lawyer was an offence.
Peterson also questioned Cheddie’s industry experience, which later showed that he did not perform actual work with major companies in the oil and gas industry and had only taught penetration diving in theory.
Earlier in his testimony, Cheddie said that he taught diving to LMCS divers Michael Kurban, Andrew Farrah, Fyzal Kurban and Rishi Nagassar.
He agreed with Gilbert Peterson that they disregarded his teaching that they should not use scuba gear for particular commercial diving exercises.
Instead, they should have use dsurface supply air in a habitat, he said.
However, he admitted that some diving operations in the marine industry could use scuba equipment.
During this cross-examination, Peterson told him that he intended to portray himself as an expert to the CoE, and was quite critical of Paria following the incident but lacked experience. It was then Cheddie said he was not an expert but a professional.
Cheddie also denied Peterson’s claim that he was biased against Paria, Heritage and Petrotrin because they never hired him as a diving consultant.
However, he said he never made himself available to those companies and worked with small contractors.