In a renewed push for justice, prominent attorney Prakash Ramadhar has issued a firm demand for financial compensation from both Paria Fuel Trading Co Ltd and LMCS Ltd to the families of four divers who tragically perished in a 2022 underwater pipeline incident. During a press briefing in Curepe on January 24th, flanked by associates Saira Lakhan, Ved Trebouhansingh, and Shane Sinanan, Ramadhar emphasized that legal action would be imminent if the companies continued to deny liability.
This development follows closely after Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar distributed $1 million ex-gratia payments to Christopher Boodram, the sole survivor of the catastrophe, and to the families of two deceased divers, Rishi Nagessar and Fyzal Kurban. The tragic event occurred on February 25, 2022, when the five LMCS-employed divers were performing maintenance on a 30-inch pipeline at Berth 6 in Pointe-a-Pierre. They were catastrophically sucked into the line by a powerful differential pressure event, known as Delta P.
A recent Commission of Enquiry report, tabled in Parliament on January 19, 2024, recommended that the Director of Public Prosecutions consider corporate manslaughter charges against Paria. The report also cited evidence to prosecute Paria manager Colin Piper and LMCS head Kazim Ali Snr—father of one of the victims—for violations of the Occupational Safety and Health Act.
While expressing gratitude for the government’s compensatory gesture, Ramadhar asserted it was insufficient and that the primary responsibility rests with the involved corporations. He revealed that pre-action letters had been repeatedly sent to both companies, whose legal representatives have consistently denied liability, even post-enquiry. To avoid a protracted legal battle that could span years through appeals, Ramadhar has proposed an out-of-court settlement of $5 million for each affected family. He contextualized this figure by comparing it to the multi-million dollar legal fees generated by the enquiry itself.
Highlighting the profound ongoing hardships faced by the families, Ramadhar detailed the case of the Kurban family. The victim’s daughter is accruing significant debt for her education in Canada, while her brothers in Trinidad struggle to find work due to community associations with the disaster. Similarly, distribution of the government’s payment to the family of Yusuf Henry is delayed due to unresolved beneficiary issues among his children from different relationships.
Concluding his appeal, Ramadhar stated his team would dispatch further correspondence to Paria and LMCS, urging a swift and fair settlement to alleviate the families’ burdens without relying solely on state resources, noting that Paria, as a state enterprise, possesses substantial assets exceeding US$1 billion.