Attorney Prakash Ramadhar wants a $5 million ex gratia payment to be made to the families of the four divers who died in the Paria Fuel tragedy in 2022.
He reiterated his call for the payment, days after the Commissioner of Enquiry report was laid in Parliament by Energy Minister Stuart Young.
Ramadhar represented the families of LMCS divers Fyzal Kurban and Yusuf Henry.
During a press conference on Monday morning, he also called for criminal charges to be laid against the entire Incident Response Team of Paria Fuel Trading Limited who failed to save the divers as they struggled for breath inside a pipeline on February 25, 2022.
Ramadhar said apart from charges of corporate manslaughter, further criminal charges should have been laid.
He said the findings of the COE showed the recklessness of Collin Piper and his team when they failed to rescue the four divers- Fyzal Kurban, Kazim Ali Junior, Rishi Nagessar, and Yusuf Henry who all died while doing underwater maintenance works on Sealine 36.
Ramadhar said each of the divers’ families should get at least a $ 5 million payout from Paria. He also said the family should be compensated for the emotional trauma, disrespect, and pain of the families.
“It is a mark of respect for the families for their pain and suffering,” he said.
Ramadhar called for the Paria officials to be removed from their posts as the evidence shows that they acted with recklessness and incompetence.