Attorney for the families of Fyzal Kurban and Yusuf Henry, Prakash Ramadhar, has called on President Christine Kangaloo to act speedily in providing Government with the final report of the Commission of Enquiry (CoE) on the LMCS/ Paria diving tragedy.
At a media conference in San Fernando yesterday, Ramdahar also called on Kangaloo to use her office to seek an expedited dispensation of the report into the public domain. He said it troubled him that the law mandated that the Commission could only present the report to Kangaloo, and she could only pass it to the Government.
“I would shudder to imagine that any responsible government would not make the report public. I expect that they will, but my expectations are bound based on what is common decency and what is proper. But there is also another factor: timeliness, the presentation of this report to the public,” Ramadhar said.
Ramadhar congratulated the Commission, saying he felt relieved that the report was ready, and waited with bated breath to see the wording.
He and the families believe the report will be robust.
“I was very confident knowing that Mr Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj was head of the legal team and whatever was required to ensure that no stone was left unturned and for there to be no cover-up once he was present and, of course, the chairman and his fellow commissioner. And during the hearing, I felt a level of confidence.”
Ramadhar said Commission Chairman Jerome Lynch made crucial statements, including that the divers’ deaths were not an act of God and that it was no accident. He said this was the families’ position and that the divers would not have died if those with responsibility exercised their duty to rescue.
He maintained that resources were available and even Kurban’s son, Michael, was willing to save his father, but Paria’s management and the Coast Guard prevented him.
Ramdhar reiterated Lynch’s statement that no one took responsibility for the deaths and recalled a Paria official rating their emergency response as excellent during the evidential hearing of the CoE and said it was obscene and absurd.
Ramadhar said the CoE’s $15.5 million expenditure did not include the legal costs incurred by Paria Fuel Trading Company, Heritage Petroleum and other parties, which could lead to millions of dollars. Despite the expenditure, he said there was no payment to the divers’ families who suffered the most and agreed with Lynch that the families should have received an ex-gratia payment as some of his clients were children at school without a father and breadwinner.
Whether or not the Government shares the report publicly, Ramadhar said the family will proceed to file legal action against all those considered liable.
“We hope and expect those liable will do the right and decent thing and make an ex-gratia payment so the families will no longer suffer.”
Kurban’s widow, Celisha Kurban, said she was pleased that the report was ready and did not want a lengthy delay in getting a copy. She was also satisfied with what Lynch had to say in his final address.