By Sue-Ann Wayow
THE wives of the four divers, Fyzal Kurban, Rishi Nagassar, Yusuf Henry and Kazim Ali Jr who perished in an underwater fuel line a year ago, will journey to the place of the tragedy.
The offshore memorial service will be done around 2.30 pm on Saturday precisely one year since the men were sucked into to the pipeline. This is approximately the time that the accident occurred on February 25, 2022.
It will be a final goodbye at the Paria Fuel Trading Company facilities.
At berths five and six, just offshore the Pointe-a-Pierre refinery, the men’s families and friends will do prayers and symbolic offerings for their loved ones, one year since they died after going missing into a 30-inch pipeline located between the berths at Sealine Riser No 36.
Vanessa Kussie, wife of Rishi Nagassar told AZP News on Friday that months ago, the wives wrote to Paria asking that they be allowed to go as close as possible to the area where the accident occurred.
Paria agreed and also stated that their vessels and security be used, but the families wanted to use their own.
Kussie said the service was also open to the public and anyone who wants to join in prayer was welcomed including officials from Paria.
The meeting point would be at the Yacht Club in Vistabella, San Fernando, at 2 pm.
The families of Kazim Ali Jr and Fyzal Kurban provided their boats for the service.
Kussie said, “This is a memorial service for ourselves. We want to feel that part of comfort. It is a final word for us on the one year of their passing but it is not final. We are still awaiting that closure. Closure will only come when justice is served. That is the only time we will get closure.”
On Saturday would also be the first time Kussie will be going to berths five and six.
“I am not a sea person,” she confessed, adding that she was a bit fearful about going on a boat for the service.
The wives of the other men visited the area, she said.
On Friday, the divers’ families along with Member of Parliament for Couva South Rudranath Indarsingh held a memorial service at Indarsingh’s office at Camden Road in Couva where a legacy tree planting ceremony was also held.
Kussie told AZP News that the MPs who attended were also invited to Saturday’s ceremony planned by the families.
