Almost eight months after the Commission of Enquiry report into the Paria Fuel diving tragedy was delivered to President Christine Kangaloo, there have been some developments in this slow-moving matter that captured the public's attention at the end of February 2022.
Two years and five months ago, four divers employed by Land and Marine Construction Services (LMSC), were nightmarishly trapped inside a 30-inch Paria Fuel Trading pipeline in the Pointe-a-Pierre harbour and died. A fifth diver, Christopher Boodram, escaped, but is no doubt living with unimaginable psychological trauma.
This week, Director of Public Prosecutions Roger Gaspard has determined a criminal investigation should be conducted to establish whether there is enough evidence to charge Paria with manslaughter by gross negligence. The Commission of Enquiry had recommended to the DPP that there were sufficient grounds to conclude that Paria's actions could be "characterised as gross negligence." It did not conclude the same was true of LMCS, as the commission was of the view that company was "effectively prevented from pursuing a rescue by Paria."
As a result of the DPP's directions, a T&T Police Service investigator has been selected to probe this complex matter. Given the track record of the T&TPS in investigating large and complicated matters—such as the Piarco Airport corruption case and the the collapse of Clico and the Hindu Credit Union—there should not be too much optimism of progress on that front soon.
More promising is the possibility of a civil settlement, with attorney Prakash Ramadhar revealing his clients are prepared to accept an ex-gratia payment of $5 million as full and final settlement of all claims against LMCS and Paria.
It is useful that Ramadhar gave examples of two local cases in which the courts decided on $25,000 awards for the loss of expectation of life. That attaches some context to the family member of one of the deceased saying she is prepared to accept $5 million.
There is no doubt the families of the men who died and the survivor deserve some kind of monetary settlement. That is because at its core, the Paria diving tragedy is about five families whose lives have been torn apart by the deaths of four breadwinners and the suffering of the fifth survivor.
But a civil settlement should be fair and reasonable to all parties concerned, especially as an out-of-court, negotiated settlement is likely to be viewed as a precedent for all cases of wrongful, on-the-job deaths in the future.
In the US, such settlements normally come with binding non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) and with the companies not admitting any liability.
It is an, as yet, unresolved issue whether a wholly state-owned company can sign NDAs, given the T&T public's right to know the details of how companies owned by taxpayers spend public money and our Freedom of Information Act.
As important as the possible settlement is, it pales in comparison to the fact that corporate T&T must learn from the February 2022 incident. It is hoped that the Commission of Enquiry report was mandatory reading for all health and safety officers in companies across T&T. While few companies engage in practices that are as inherently dangerous as underwater diving in a 30-inch pipeline, there is much in the report that speaks to processes and procedures that must be followed, with the appropriate oversight and checks and balances.
