The Commission of Enquiry (COE) into the Paria diving tragedy will be delayed. The first day of the COE’s public hearings into the deaths of four divers at Paria Fuel Trading Company will be held on September 7th, a few weeks later than its original start date of August.
The announcement was made by the Commission's newly installed Chairman Jerome Lynch, Q.C. at a media conference at the Southern Academy for the Performing Arts today.
Lynch was named as Chairman of the COE in late June after the original chairman Dennis Morrison Q.C., resigned suddenly.
The COE was set up to look into the deaths of LMCS divers Kazim Ali Jr., Yusuf Henry, Rishi Nagessar, and Faizal Kurban at Paria's offshore facility in Point a Pierre on February 25th.
Lynch was sworn in by President Paula Mae Weekes shortly before he spoke to the media on Thursday.
He is expected to leave the country tomorrow, but said he will work remotely until he returns in September.
As part of chairing the COE Lynch said he would look at the scene where the divers met their demise.
He told reporters the deaths should not have happened and the Commission will seek to determine if there was anything that could have been done to save the men.
Lynch said while everyone wants answers on the fatal incident, he does not intend to rush the process.
"I start my work today, there is much to be done and I am not going to hurry it. We all want this to be a thorough and comprehensive analysis. That is what we will achieve," he said.
The COE will also seek to produce recommendations to ensure that the February 25th incident never happens again. Lynch said, if the Commission finds there was negligence it will make recommendations to the Director of Public Prosecutions or the police.
Legal counsel to the COE Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj S.C. said the Commission made a request to the Public Service to use the International Waterfront Center in Port of Spain for the procedural hearing and is hoping for government intervention.
Maharaj said the Commission will soon post notices to its website and newspapers inviting members of the public to share submissions, evidence, or statements in the next seven to ten days.
Letters will also be sent to Paria, LMCS, and the Coast Guard asking them to make their submissions.
Once the submissions are collected and assessed the Commission will move on to the public phase of the Enquiry.
Lynch has previously participated in several COEs in the United Kingdom and the Caribbean, but it is the first COE that he will chair.
He is a Senior Litigator at Trott and Duncan in Bermuda and a Queen’s Counsel at Cloisters Chambers in London.
His practice includes defending in all serious crime, including murder and manslaughter, fraud, corruption, Company breaches, insider trading, money laundering and other white-collar crime.
He has been registered as a senior trainer by Lincoln’s Inn and regularly lectures around the globe on advocacy and ethics.
He is the holder of a Bachelor of Arts Degree from the University of Lancashire. He was called to the Bar of England and Wales in 1983, and was appointed as a Queen’s Counsel in 2000. In addition, QC Lynch has been admitted to practice in Bermuda, Turks & Caicos, the British Virgin Islands and Cayman Islands. He became a bencher of Lincoln’s Inn in 2008 and an Honorary Fellow of the University of Lancashire, his alma mater, in 2011.icos, the British Virgin Islands and Cayman Islands. He became a bencher of Lincoln’s Inn in 2008 and an Honorary Fellow of the University of Lancashire, his alma mater, in 2011.
Reporter: Kevon Felmine