Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister, Stuart Young, has assured the public that there will be no delay in the commission of enquiry (CoE) into the Paria diving tragedy.
He made the statement in Parliament on Friday, one day after announcing that its original chairman, Jamaican Dennis Morrison, QC, had resigned for personal reasons and had been replaced by Jamaican-born Jerome Lynch QC.
Morrison, and local sub sea specialist Gregory Wilson were appointed members of the commission on April 22, with former attorney general Ramesh Maharaj as lead counsel.
Pointe-a-Pierre MP David Lee on Friday posed an urgent question asking Young what delay might be caused by Morrison’s resignation.
However, Young stated: “There is expected to be no delay in the commission of enquiry. In fact, I took the precaution of speaking to Jerome Lynch just before coming to Parliament this afternoon, and confirmed with him that he will be able to stick to the timeline of August procedural hearings commencing.”
Young added, “Mr Lynch will be sworn in, in the shortest possible time frame.”
The commission of enquiry will probe the deaths of four divers, who were trapped in a pipeline owned by Paria Fuel Trading Company Limited in Pointe-a-Pierre in February.
Only one diver made it out alive, but attempts to rescue the others were stopped by Coast Guard and Petrotrin officials who deemed it too risky.
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