The survivor of the Paria diving tragedy and the families of the four men who died are upset that the report on the incident will not be submitted this month.
The commission of enquiry (CoE) into last February's acccident at Paria Fuel Trading Co Ltd in Pointe-a-Pierre has requested a new deadline of November 30.
On February 25, 2022, divers Rishi Nagassar, Kazim Ali Jr, Fyzal Kurban, Yusuf Henry and Christopher Boodram were doing maintenance work on a 30-inch underwater pipeline belonging to Paria when they were suddenly sucked into the pipeline. Only Boodram survived.
The CoE was originally due to submit its final report to the President in May. But in a statement on May 5, the commission said it had written to President Christine Kangaloo to seek an extension until August 31.
A statement issued by the commission's secretariat on Monday said the commission was unable to meet that deadline. The commission has now written to the President to ask for an extension until November 30.
In a signed letter to Kangaloo dated August 28, commission chairman Jerome Lynch, KC, said the commission could not meet the August 31 deadline "as there have been a number of new decisions dealing with the importance of the proper procedure to be adopted in CoEs."
The commission cited two cases. The first was from the United Kingdom, R (Hexpress Healthcare Ltd) –v– Care Quality Commission.
The second was local, Civil Appeal P 286 of 2020 between Hart –v – The CoE-La Alturas Housing and others.
Lynch said, "These cases deal with a range of issues to ensure fairness to everyone and that the parties have a fair opportunity to make their case in particular where there are to be criticisms of individuals that may affect their careers and lead to recommendations as to criminal conduct or a potential for the breach of a duty of care."
The commission, he continued, has "sought to ensure that very outcome and everything it has done has been to ensure that no one is shut out. "
Lynch said, "Not everyone we may criticise was represented at the enquiry."
Against that background, the commission has given the parties extra time to provide written responses. The commission is still awaiting some of those responses.
Lynch said, "Additionally, the commissioners' professional commitments outside of this CoE have also caused some further delay, mine in particular."
He said it was important for the commission not only to act in such a way to ensure fairness but to be seen to do so.
"We are also very alive to the need to ensure that the possibilities of judical review being mounted by any of the parties criticised by this CoE is addressed lest such action cause rather more substantial delay and/or unwarranted litigation or worse still the annulment of any part of the final report."
Referring to the Las Alturas enquiry, Lynch said that CoE took 20 months to complete its work.
But, he added, "Then had a significant number of its findings set aside by the Court of Appeal seven years later for want of fairness to some of the par
