Defence Force Lieutenant Commander Michael Maharaj says he never told Paria Fuel’s Collin Piper that the four men trapped in a pipeline could have been dead on February 26.
In his testimony before the Commission of Enquiry (CoE) into the Paria diving tragedy yesterday, Lieutenant Maharaj disputed several statements made by Piper in his sworn witness statement to the Enquiry.
He was being questioned by counsel for the Commission, Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj when he made the statement yesterday.
The CoE was set up after four LMCS divers died in an accident at Paria’s Berth 6 on February 25. LMCS claimed Paria refused to rescue Fyzal Kurban, Rishi Nagassar, Yusuf Henry and Kazim Ali Junior. A fifth diver, Christopher Boodram, is the lone survivor.
Yesterday, Maharaj read from Piper’s statement relating to Lieutenant Maharaj.
Piper said Lieutenant Maharaj visited the incident command team (ICT) around midday on February 26, a day after the accident.
Piper said he updated Lieutenant Maharaj about the status of the rescue efforts and then they moved to a private area, where Lieutenant Maharaj told him it was unlikely the men were alive.
“Did you indicate to him that it was unlikely that the divers in the pipeline were still alive? Because it is unlikely that you would have had sufficient air to survive for this long?” Maharaj asked.
“Absolutely not,” Lieutenant Maharaj responded.
He explained that he had visited the ICT as part of his duties to report to the Chief of Defence Staff on any incidents in which the Defence Force was involved.
He denied advising Piper that a recovery effort should be considered.
Lieutenant Maharaj was also asked by Paria’s attorney Gilbert Peterson.
Peterson if he had formed any opinion on whether the men were alive or dead when he spoke to Piper on Saturday afternoon.
“I have no ability to pronounce people alive or dead,” Lieutenant Maharaj said.
Peterson persisted, asking Lieutenant Maharaj again whether he believed the men could have been alive at that time.
“I asked you what you did with that view. You kept it to yourself or you told it to Mr Piper?” Peterson asked.
“When he told me about the option about getting the water to push the people out, then I expressed to him my view and the view was that I expressed to him was that should this option be considered, you are basically extinguishing any and all hope of survivability and as far as I was concerned, there is no reason to say people are surviving or not, especially when he told me that someone who had gotten out of the pipe spoke to other people,” Lieutenant Maharaj said.
Peterson said Piper had asserted that Lieutenant Maharaj told him the operation should move from rescue to recovery.
He said Paria’s general manager Mushtaq Mohammed also alleged that Lieutenant Maharaj told him the families of the missing men should be informed that the operation was moving from rescue to recovery.
Lieutenant Maharaj also denied this, saying while he was introduced to Mohammed, he did not give him any advice.
