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  • 9 months ago
The Paria Justice Committee, in seeking an update on the criminal investigation launched into the Paria Diving Tragedy which occurred in 2022, met with the Acting Commissioner of Police on Thursday.


Members of the Committee then proceeded to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.


Alicia Boucher has the details.
Transcript
00:00200 days ago we were told that the investigation was coming to a close and in the meantime
00:07none of the families or anyone associated with the accident had been gotten in touch
00:14with. So we really were at a loss of what was happening.
00:18The predicament facing Qasem Ali Senior, the dad of deceased Qasem Ali Junior, and the
00:23other families of the divers who died in the subsea pipeline at birth 6 of the Paria Fuel
00:27Trading Company. The Committee for Justice for the Paria Divers in Wanting Answers has
00:33met with Acting Commissioner of Police Junior Benjamin and Deputy Commissioner in Charge
00:37of Investigations Suzette Martin.
00:40Supporter of the committee MP Rudranathan Dharasinghe says it was a cordial discussion.
00:45But it did not tell us in terms of when the investigations will come to an end. And the
00:54third anniversary will be on the 25th of February. And as active stakeholders in this
01:00exercise we thought it fit to get an update from the Acting Commissioner of Police. DCP
01:08Martin indicated to all that the investigations were at a sensitive stage. It was ongoing
01:17and that expert evidence would have to be sought.
01:23Dharasinghe says the committee was assured that the necessary resources for the expert
01:27evidence to be garnered would be put in place. And he adds that a commitment was given to
01:32bridge the communication gaps.
01:35The commissioner has committed himself to ensure that the investigative team meets with
01:42the families of the deceased divers and Christopher Boudram, the lone survivor, on an ongoing
01:48basis.
01:49The committee subsequently visited the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions. And
01:54while they could not be accommodated for a meeting with DPP Roger Gaspard, senior counsel,
02:00Boudram was allowed to enter to deliver a letter asking for an update from that end.
02:05It was the DPP who gave the green light for a criminal investigation into the tragedy
02:09to be pursued in July of 2024.
02:13Boudram says the letter was received by Gaspard's secretary and they have discussed scheduling
02:19an appointment at a later date.
02:21TV6 News asked Boudram how he was coping amid what has been an ongoing process since February
02:27of 2022.
02:28I'm not doing too good. Most times I always relive the incident and because I have to
02:38fight this fight, I can't forget it. You know, I always had to be asking, pleading,
02:49the family and I always, in one way or the other, for justice, you know, for financial
02:56help, financial compensation.
02:58And in Darussingh is calling on Minister Van Ajeem, now Prime Minister in Waitings, Tochang
03:03for answers as to how many of the recommendations from the Commission of Inquiry have been implemented
03:09so far.
03:10The Commission of Inquiry made a recommendation that there should have been some kind of compensation,
03:18monetary, without accepting any culpability. Three years after, Minister Young continues
03:26to display the same sense of arrogance, lack of care and empathy.
03:30Alicia Boucher, TV6 News.
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