By Sue-Ann Wayow
“I HAD no choice.”
This was the statement made by Terminal Operations Manager of Paria Fuel Trading Company Ltd Collin Piper, as he defended his decision to stop all diving on February 25, 2022, when four underwater divers went missing.
Piper told the Commission of Enquiry (CoE) into the tragic events into the Paria-LMCS accident on Wednesday that the decision was an extremely difficult one to make.
The decision to cease all diving was made at around 6.25 pm after Christopher Boodram emerged from the 30-inch pipeline in which he was sucked in along with Fyzal Kurban, Yusuf Henry, Rishi Nagassar and Kazim Ali Jr who all died.
Piper in answering questions on Wednesday asked by the CoE’s senior counsel Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj, SC said the unawareness of the pipe’s conditions was a determining factor in the decision.
He said, “I took a decision at that in time to pause because we needed to assess…”
Piper continued, “The worst thing you can do in an emergency response is to act instinctively and to act emotionally. That is the absolute way, you should not respond in an emergency and definitely in this case.”
“And therefore, I had no choice but to say stop. We need to assess, we need to understand what is going on so I took that decision as difficult as that decision was. Don’t believe for one minute that that was a simple decision. That was an extremely difficult decision but at that point it was the decision that had to be taken.”
The decision was taken even after Michael Kurban, son of Fyzal Kurban, dived into the pipeline and came out without any obstruction.
Not a diver himself and having served in the petroleum industry for 45 years, Piper said, “All my life in this industry confined space entry has taken lives. Confined space entry is not something you take lightly and in this industry, lives are lost regularly with people entering into confined spaces out of emotion and out of instinct not understanding the dangers in confined spaces.”
Piper also told the CoE that in making the decision, he not receive any diving expert advice and he did not rely on his own intuition.
“I relied on my knowledge and experience on my 45 years in the industry,” he stated.
The decision also applied to rescuers as rescuers themselves die very often, Piper said.
Piper also told the Commission based on LMCS experience in the maritime industry, Paria did not deem it necessary to get external expert advice on LMCS risk assessment and emergency response plans provided for the contracted work at No. 36 sealine riser, Berth #6.
Piper was part of the management tenders committee when the contract was awarded.
He admitted that Paria was not a diving contractor expert, lacking the expertise to carry out that particular job.
“Paria hired the contractor with the expectation that the contractor provides that expert knowledge and execution of that contract,” Piper said.
The contractor being LMCS was also required to provide a listing of all credible risks to Paria, if not identifiable, Paria would deal with obvious risks, he added.
Nobody died in this incident. They were murdered. Let us face that fact as it becomes more apparent with each passing day of this inquiry. Piper et al need to throw their frame from the highest possible cliff. MURDERERS!