Guardian ( Trinidad and Tobago )
16 January 2023 ( Page 5 )
Families now struggling to survive
Paria/LMCS diving tragedy survivor wants charges laid, speedy compensation, but admits ...
KEVON FELMINE - KEVON.FELMINE@GUARDIAN.CO.TT
Apart from wanting the Commission of Enquiry (CoE) into the Paria/LMCS
Diving Tragedy to recommend criminal charges against those responsible for
his injuries and the deaths of his colleagues, Christopher Boodram says
speedy compensation for the families should be a consideration.
Boodram is the lone survivor of the tragic Delta P incident at the Paria Fuel
Trading Company Ltd on February 25, 2022, where he and his colleagues got
sucked into a 30-inch pipeline. Boodram, Fyzal Kurban, Yusuf Henry, Kazim
Ali Jr and Rishi Nagassar were all divers with Land and Marine Contracting
Paria Fuel Trading general manager Mushtaq Mohammed testifies before
the Commission of Enquiry recently. PICTURE KERWIN PIERRE
LMCS diver Christopher Boodram breaks down during his testimony before
the Commission of Enquiry into the LMCS/ Paria Diving Tragedy. PICTURE
SHIRLEY BAHADUR
Services Ltd (LMCS) carrying out subsea maintenance on Paria’s Sealine No.
36 at Berth No. 6 in the Pointe-a-Pierre harbour.
Since that day, Boodram has been unable to work, as he still undergoes
physiotherapy for his injured shoulder.
He told Guardian Media yesterday that Paria had spent significant money on
legal fees but did not consider allocating some to help the families of the
deceased divers.
While Boodram appreciates the CoE, he said it is a costly event and while it is
going on, the families of the men who died, and his own, are struggling to
survive as they have lost their breadwinners.
“I am not making any attacks on the Enquiry because they have to do their
jobs, but it still has to be said that while everybody is carrying home a
paycheque, the divers’ families are left out. They should make a
recommendation for some speedy compensation.”
He said if the CoE recommends charges and there are other civil proceedings,
it could take five to 10 years for the decision while the families continue to
suffer.
“How will the families survive? Do we have to continue begging? We have to
continue throwing barbecues?”
Boodram recalled Paria’s general manager Mushtaq Mohammed telling the
CoE that the company offered Massy vouchers to the families but said this
was untrue. He said no one reached out to him and the other families.
Boodram, a witness at the CoE’s evidentiary hearings, attended the
proceedings at the International Waterfront in Port-of-Spain daily.
However, he admitted that he stayed home to watch the hearings in the new
year, as he could not quell his temper during the evidence of Mohammed and
Paria’s Terminal Operations Management Collin Piper.
He said based on what he heard from those witnesses, Paria sought to
absolve itself of responsibility by any means and blamed the divers, saying
they broke protocol and did not follow the Permit-to- Work (PTW). However,
Boodram claimed the PTW outlined the work needed but only had three lines.
“How many things can you put into three lines in a permit? You can say now
that taking out the plug was the wrong thing to do but in hindsight. Before
hindsight, they did not know that because they clearly stated that they knew
nothing about the job and LMCS was the specialist.”
He said Paria also prevented the same company it claimed was a specialist
from saving his friends.
He asked if LMCS was the specialist contractor, why Paria did not leave the
company to exercise its diving specialities instead of calling other people to
get advice.
Boodram said Paria failed him and his colleagues, as they were responsible
for ensuring LMCS had everything in order.
He said Piper and Mushtaq Mohammed’s evidence stood out the most. He
recalled seeing a video of Mohammed interacting with the families and
laughing. He questioned why Mohammed would laugh in a situation where
divers were in a pipe and laugh in front of their families if they had any care
or moral duty. He said even if Mohammed did not have personal feelings for
the divers and their families, he should understand they were in pain and
needed support.
Boodram said it was like spitting in someone’s face while they lay on the
ground. He said it was disrespectful and showed that Mohammed did not
care.
Photo: LMCS diver Christopher Boodram, left, and his colleagues last February
before the diving accident.
Photo: Paria Fuel Trading general manager Mushtaq Mohammed testifies before
the Commission of Enquiry recently. PICTURE KERWIN PIERRE
Photo: LMCS diver Christopher Boodram breaks down during his testimony before
the Commission of Enquiry into the LMCS/ Paria Diving Tragedy. PICTURE
SHIRLEY BAHADUR