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Couva South MP Rudranath Indarsingh is demanding to know what the government, Paria Fuel Trading Company Ltd, and the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Agency are doing about increasing and amending safety standards following the tragic incident at Berth 6 which resulted in the deaths of four divers, a year ago.
Speaking at the UNC’s Sunday media conference at the Office of the Opposition Leader, Port of Spain, Indarsingh said, “The government needs to tell the country what they have done from a health and safety point of view. Paria needs to tell the country too, in terms of ensuring that the OSH Act is adhered to, the health and safety standards they have met, the review and requirements, what have they done with respect to reviewing the regulations for commercial and deep sea diving in the energy sector?
“Has the OSH Agency recruited specialised inspectors to lift the health and safety standards as it relates to adhering to the OSH Act in the energy sector and throughout TT from a workplace point of view? How many vacancies are existing for inspectors I and II at the OSH Agency, is there a functioning chief inspector at the OSH Agency, and what laws does the government intend to amend based on lessons that would have emerged as a result of this tragedy?”
Indarsingh asked if OSHA had conducted an investigation into the Paria tragedy and issued a report. Reminded that the agency had hired In-Corr-Tech Ltd to carry out a report, which had been used by lawyers for questioning during the commission of enquiry, he asked a series of questions.
“If they hired this agency, that means they didn’t have specialised staff to carry out the investigation. Have they since hired such? They can’t just subcontract that job without telling taxpayers how much the company was paid to carry out the investigation.”
Indarsingh asked who had instructed Paria that it was cheaper to not mount a rescue operation. Asked where this perspective had originated from, he said he was putting it out there as the UNC wanted to know.
He demanded that once the commission of enquiry report was compiled by commissioner King’s Counsel Jerome Lynch, it should not be sent to the Ministry of the Attorney General and Legal Affairs for sanitisation, as had been done for the Darryl Smith report relating to misbehaviour allegations against the former sports minister.
Indarsingh said the PM should commit to having the report sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions for review and to let prosecutions go ahead if there were grounds for this.
Last Thursday, Indarsingh held an inter-faith service for the families of the divers at his constituency office where a commemorative plaque was installed. The families sailed out to sea for a memorial near the Paria berth on Saturday, a year after the tragedy.
The post Indarsingh: Are lessons being learned from Paria tragedy? appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.