Sascha Wilson
Christopher Boodram, the lone survivor of the Paria diving tragedy that claimed the lives of his four colleagues, is now asking Paria Fuel Trading Ltd to pay for his medical expenses, but with a medical team of his choosing.
The request was made via a legal letter sent to Paria's Chief Executive Officer today through Freedom Law Chambers owned by former attorney general Anand Ramlogan in which attorney Che Dindial that they represent the interests of Christopher Boodram and Vanessa Kussie, the widow of Rishi Nagassar, one of the four divers who died in the February 25 tragedy.
In the letter, they also made two other requests for Paria to pay an international independent expert to probe the incident and also to disclose under the Freedom of Information Act documents and other articles relating to the tragedy.
Stating that Boodram shared an extremely close brotherly bond, with his four deceased colleagues, he said Boodram and Nagassar continue to be dismayed, shocked and disappointed over Paria's conduct throughout the terrifying ordeal and in the aftermath.
Describing the incident as the "worst industrial accident" in the nation in 40 years, he said it has attracted regional and international attention. Concerned family members, the letter stated, camped out at a bus shed outside Paria while they anxiously awaited news about the fate of their loved ones.
"There was extremely limited communication via a Whatsapp group which could be reasonably described as insensitive and inconsiderate. The fact that Paria confined the families to a bus shed outside the compound shows that it was content to ignore their grief and relegate them to the periphery without any concern for their pain and suffering.
The families had to resort to social media to vent their frustration. Paria’s press releases were aloof and underscored the detachment from the families. Whilst Paria’s Board of Directors and Executive Management pontificated like armchair critics, comfortably ensconced in their air-conditioned board rooms with refreshments, food and drink, the families were marginalised and left in the sweltering heat, without so much as a chubby or bottle of water far less toilet facilities.
"Noting that Paria failed to engage in any form of meaningful consultation or discussion with the aggrieved families, Dindial said concerned citizens who gathered, united with the families and raised their voices to express outrage at the callous, arrogant and insensitive manner in which Paria was operating. He further stated that as the national outrage over Paria’s inaction intensified, Paria appeared to have dug its heels even deeper into the quicksand of procrastination whilst it engaged in analysis paralysis.
"Precious time was lost with no clear plan and sadly, even though Mr Boodram was rescued a mere three hours after the incident, Paria blocked further rescue attempts. The families earned about Paria’s decision when they saw a press release in the media and when the frustrated rescue divers protested on social media. The original press release from Paria claimed that OSHA supported Paria’s decision to abort any rescue mission however OSHA publicly denied giving its support to such a deadly decision.
We have no doubt in light of our instructions that this decision led to the untimely and avoidable death of the remaining divers including our client’s common-law husband who was alive in air pockets inside the pipeline awaiting help."
Subsequent to the diver's death, he said Paria has amazingly continued to operate in the same high handed manner despite mounting public criticism and unanimous condemnation of the company's callous treatment of the bereaved families. He said there has been no support provided to the families that are reeling in shock and literally living the worst possible nightmare.
"There has been no regard for the fact that families have lost their sole breadwinner, and poor defenceless mothers are left to care for their children without knowing where their next meal is coming from. No form of financial assistance has been offered to our clients by anyone to date." Dindial added that Boodram had contracted the coronavirus and was unable to work for the most part of December 2021 and January 2022 while Kussie has three children to take care of and her husband was the sole breadwinner of the family.
"Mr Boodram is in dire need of medical attention that he cannot afford. Naturally, he prefers to remain with his present doctors and does not wish for Paria to handpick his doctors for him. In this vein, we reject any suggestion/proposal by Paria that it will only assist if he allows the company to dictate which doctor he should seek medical attention from.
In the circumstances, we wish to inquire whether Paria would be prepared to pay for Mr Boodram’s medical expenses. Given the company’s public announcement that it is willing to pay for such services, we expect a favourable response as it would be highly unreasonable for Paria to say that it is only willing to pay for his medical expenses if it can select his doctors for him. Pointing out that their clients also wish to retain the services of an independent international expert of their choice to obtain professional advice and expert evidence, he said it is a significant expenditure that they can ill-afford. "We therefore further wish to inquire whether Paria will be prepared to pay for the cost of hiring an independent expert selected by our client so that they can have an independent expert report prepared to enable them to meaningfully contribute to the various investigations and seek their own interest.
We are certain that you would agree that it would add insult to deadly injury if no provision is made for our clients to be able to have the benefit of independent expert advice in this matter."
Also addressing the leaked video footage "to selected media houses and social media journalists' from a camera that was allegedly sent into the pipeline by Paria, Dindial said it was "a callous, wicked and malicious attempt to justify its irrational decision to prevent the rescue divers from saving the remaining four divers, whom we now know were very much alive in air pockets, beating the inside of the pipe, hoping to be rescued."
Pointing out that the video did not indicate what section of the pipeline the camera had covered, he said it was plainly an attempt to influence and spin the narrative away from Paria’s negligent decision to prevent the rescue mission by creating the false impression that it was virtually impossible for anyone who was sucked into the pipeline to survive.
"That the video was leaked at a time when the Prime Minister had announced the appointment of a Commission of Inquiry is evidence of how desperate Paria is and the lengths to which it would go to exculpate itself. This footage (if genuine), is material evidence that is plainly relevant to the investigation undertaken by OSHA and the Commission of Inquiry.
We are instructed that one of the divers had a Go-Pro underwater camera inside the pipeline which recorded them alive in the air pocket, praying and comforting each other whilst they were waiting to be rescued. This Go-Pro camera would have been recovered by Paria when the pipeline was flushed out and it is a pity that the footage from this camera was not leaked instead. "
Acknowledging recent statements by Paria to the effect that it would disclose the relevant evidence in its possession to the Commission of Inquiry, he noted there is no mention of disclosing that evidence to the victim’s families who are most affected by this tragedy. "This is a continuation of the unfortunate patter on behaviour whereby our clients are sidelined and Paria appears to be co-operating with everyone except the people who matter the most. Is it that Paria does not think that the families would equally want access to the relevant records pertaining to the death of their loved ones? What message does Paria think it is sending when it has never inquired of the families about what information they require but promises in the media, to disclose all the relevant records to the Commission of Enquiry?"
In the circumstances, he said they are requesting full and frank disclosure to disclose any and all information pertinent to this tragedy to the legal representatives of the victim’s families. Under the FOIA, the attorney requested 23 items from the company including details relating to the camera footage, documents relating to LMCS, minutes of the meeting held by Paria regarding the incident, any footage from the retrieved GoPro that was attached to one of the divers in the incident, the name of the official(s) and/or authorities who decided to prohibit any further rescue of the divers and their qualifications of the decision-makers; among other documents.
He requested that the information be provided within seven days given its urgency. Should the documents/information be deemed exempt under the FOIA, he pointed Paria to Section 35 FOIA which states that notwithstanding any law to the contrary, a public authority shall give access to an exempt document where, inter alia, an abuse of authority, injustice to an individual or the unauthorised use of public funds has or is likely to have occurred or where giving access to the documents requested is justified in the public interest having regard both to any benefit and to any damage that may arise from doing so. Nagassar, Yusuf Henry, Kazim Ali and Kyzal Kurban were conducting maintenance works on a 30-inch diameter subsea pipeline at Berth No 6, Pointe-a-Pierre on February 25, when they were sucked into the pipeline. Boodram was saved. The bodies of Kurban, Henry and Ali were recovered on February 28 while Nagassar's body was retrieved on March 3.
