The Commission of Enquiry (CoE) into the incident at the Paria Fuel Trading Company’s offshore facility, where four divers died in February, is currently in the investigative stage of the probe.
Finance Minister Colm Imbert confirmed this in Parliament on Monday in reply to an Opposition query on the proposed commencement date of the CoE into the incident.
Divers from LMCS Limited, Christopher Boodram, Kazim Ali Jr, Yusuf Henry, Rishi Nagessar and Fyzal Kurban, had been working on a pipeline on February 25 at Paria’s Berth No. 6 offshore platform at Pointe-a-Pierre, when an incident occurred.
They were sucked into the pipeline and only Boodram survived and emerged with some assistance. His colleagues’ bodies were subsequently recovered.
The CoE, headed by retired justice C. Dennis Morrison, was subsequently appointed to probe the incident and sworn in on April 22, 2022.
Imbert yesterday said the Commission took effect from that day.
“Since the Commissioners were sworn in, steps have been taken and are being taken to put the administrative infrastructure of the Commission in place, including the establishment of the Secretariat for the Commission to commence its hearings,” Imbert added.
“The Commissioners are currently involved in the pre-hearing stage of the enquiry which is also known as the investigative stage. During this stage, the relevant evidence is obtained and identified, and the relevant witness statements are prepared.”
He indicated that this investigative stage, “is regarded as the lifeblood of the enquiry and prepares the way forward for the evidential stage of the enquiry at which witnesses would be called to give evidence.”
He said the procedural hearing of the Commission is proposed to be held in August 2022.
After the procedural hearing stage of the enquiry is concluded, an announcement will be made by the Commissioners on the proposed commencement date of the evidential stage of the enquiry, he said.
On another query about whether the T&T Coast Guard crew who were on duty during the incident has been relieved of seagoing duties, House Leader Camille Robinson-Regis said: “The team of Coast Guard officers that was on duty during the tragic incident at Paria Fuel Trading Company’s Berth No. 6 offshore platform was and remains a shore-based dive-team, and as such, cannot by definition be relieved of seagoing duties.”
