NIQUAN INCIDENT REPORT LAID IN PARLIAMENT

CCNTV6

Two years after an incident at the NiQuan Energy plant claimed the life of a Massy Energy employee, the incident report has been laid in Parliament on the anniversary of his death by Energy Minister Dr. Roodal Moonilal.   But this move has come under scrutiny by the Former Energy Minister and resulted in an uneasiness in the Lower House Chamber.  Alicia Boucher has the details.

Transcript

00:00connect with us on facebook at ccn tv6 trinidad and tobago on x using the handle at tv6 tnt on

00:13instagram hashtag tv6 tnt and via our website www.tv6tnt.com two years after an incident at

00:25the nyquan energy plant claimed the life of a messy energy employee the incident report has

00:30been laid in parliament on the anniversary of his death and it was laid by energy minister dr

00:36rudal munilao this move has come under scrutiny by the former energy minister and resulted in

00:42an uneasiness in the lower house chamber alicia boucher has the details in keeping with the order

00:48of justice avacyn quinlan williams who just over a week ago quashed the energy ministry's decision

00:54to withhold the 2023 nyquan incident report it is being made public mr speaker i have in my hand

01:02the final report and this report has been laid in the parliament it's a victory for the widow of

01:08alan lane ramkasun sarah ramkasun who took the ministry to court over the refusal to make her

01:13privy to the incident report surrounding the death of her husband energy minister dr rudal munilal said

01:20before the tragedy the nyquan plant was experiencing problems including low production rates product

01:26quality and there was instability of a fractionating column which is a long tube with a temperature

01:32gradient separating different liquids based on their boiling points nyquan was attempting to address

01:38these issues through means such as modification procedures according to dr munilal between june 12th

01:45and 13th 2023 nyquan workers noticed a hotter than usual column and then a leak at the bottom of the

01:52column on june 14th on june 14th the nyquan operators and contractor team determined that there was no

01:59major activity that night and there would not be any hot works required the team then on this undertook

02:04a review of the work carried out early in the day that night ramkasun a father of two and the husband

02:11of sarah ramkasun was replacing a nitrogen hose there was no instruction to turn off the valve prior

02:19to removal removal of this line mr ramkasun removed the hose and was awaiting the steam hose to connect

02:28at the same point it was at 12 55 a.m that colleagues heard mr ramkasun cry for help and saw

02:35that he was engulfed in flames despite receiving treatment locally and in colombia ramkasun died on

02:41june 18th 2023 father's day mr speaker the potential causes for the fire included the movement of

02:49flammable contents from the wax storage tank to the nitrogen steam hose inlet

02:56in conclusion the report made several findings there are 15 findings in the report and recommendations

03:03for improving however dr munilal said there is nothing to implement as nyquan energy is

03:09in receivership he accused the former administration of spending in excess of 68 000 taxpayer dollars

03:16for external legal counsel to deny demands with her access to the report but former energy minister

03:22steward young stated that it is a draft ministry report which excludes the comments of nyquan and

03:28furthermore the consent of nyquan would equate to a breach of nyquan's constitutionally enshrined right

03:37to equality before the law and protection of the law dr munilal said the decision was on advice from

03:44attorney general john jeremy and this is what followed

03:54despite the government bench calling for young's statement to be withdrawn it was not heard by the

03:59speaker and so the members were encouraged to move on alicia boucher tv6 news meanwhile freedom law

04:07chambers headed by senior counsel and ram logan welcomes the disclosure of the nyquan investigative

04:13report and it is commending the government for taking that step in a statement following the laying

04:20of the report in parliament by energy minister dr rudal munilal the law firm calls it a travesty that the

04:26people's national movement administration chose to withhold it forcing the widow of alan lane ram

04:33kissoon to file a lawsuit ram logan says young's remarks suggesting that nyquan's consent was needed

04:40to release the report is disingenuous and hollow he further states quote he did not need nyquan's

04:48permission to do the right thing what did he expect them to see yes to a report that would explode the

04:55floors and negligence a young man lost his life in circumstances that raised serious concerns about

05:01the poor health and safety protocols at nyquan end quote freedom law chamber says it is looking forward

05:08to receiving the report so that it can sue nyquan for negligence adding that the company was insured at

05:13the time of the incident

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