Why are Paria and Heritage insulting the memory of these four divers and the people of this country? The refusal by personnel of these State-owned entities is indeed very troubling and worrisome and begs the questions; do they have something to hide or coverup and do not wish to incriminate themselves before the commission and the public?
In a most shocking revelation at the Commission of Enquiry into the very tragic incident which claimed the lives of four divers on February 25 2022 at facilities owned by Paria Fuel Trading Co. Ltd, the country learnt that Staff of the two State-owned Companies, Heritage and Paria will not be cooperating or appearing as witnesses before the Commission.
This non-cooperation by State entities directly reflects the worst way possible on Prime Minister Keith Rowley, his Energy Minister Stuart Young and to a lesser extent Paria’s Chairman Newman George and Heritage’s Chairman Michael A.A. Quamina.
It is beyond absurd for State companies to refuse to participate in a State-commissioned Commission of Enquiry into the worst industrial accident in over 30 years, which occurred on its worksite and is directly referred to in the very title of the Commission of Enquiry.
And to add insult to injury, Gilbert Peterson, the personal attorney and friend of Keith Rowley, who has been appointed by Rowley as a Board Member and Chair of several state enterprises, quite deceitfully and distastefully argued that there was nothing wrong with these companies’ prohibition of their staff from being interviewed by the Commission.
Why are Paria and Heritage insulting the memory of these four divers and the people of this country? The refusal by personnel of these State-owned entities is indeed very troubling and worrisome and begs the questions; do they have something to hide or coverup and do not wish to incriminate themselves before the commission and the public?
From the very day of this tragedy, the Rowley-led Administration had flippantly dismissed the seriousness of the loss of life of four citizens and the Govt’s paid and unpaid spokespeople in traditional and social media still heartlessly and soullessly downplay this excruciating tragedy, insulting the memories of these divers.
Indeed, in its Panorama news broadcast on 21 November 2022, State-owned TTT quite despicably referred to the recordings as “alleged audio recordings of dead divers,” even as they were admitted into evidence and not disputed by anyone.
Certainly, those heartbreaking, horrific recordings of the last moments of those divers’ lives – which these companies had access to – appears to suggest intentional manslaughter, if not murder.
Is this what Heritage and Paria are afraid of and trying to hide and protect themselves from?
Thankfully, the Chairman and other Members of the Commission appear sufficiently professional, humane and seemed visibly shocked by these revelations and developments.
Despite the 9-month delay, the under-resourcing of the Commission, the non-participation of the staff of Heritage and Paria, the horrifying, deadly, angering, tragic truth will be revealed, and no amount of cover up or delay will lessen the raw, heart-rending and shocking nature of this tragedy.
Even with the refusal to attend the proceedings by Paria and Heritage Staff, the Commissioners must be allowed to do their work and no one should attempt to pre-empt their final findings. There must be no cover-up or hiding the truth.
However, from what is available in the public domain, whatever the final findings, it seems clear that Keith Rowley and his government deserve the maximum political punishment possible for this heartless, immoral, evil act.
The cross examination by Petersen of the sole survivor of this tragedy Christopher Boodram has been nothing short of disgusting as Petersen attempted to erroneously undermine Boodram’s credibility. Is the Government really interested in ascertaining exactly how did this accident happen or rather seeking to absolve Paria and Heritage from any responsibility?
This miserable cycle of wrongdoing and misdeeds – beginning with the lies surrounding the shutdown and restructuring of Petrotrin itself – must come to an end.
Heritage and Paria must make amends and do the right thing – in memory of these fallen, betrayed, abandoned divers and to rescue anything that may still remain decent and humane in our once-beloved Trinidad and Tobago, which has been so debased and degraded by the Keith Rowley-led immoral PNM Government.
Capil Bissoon
