By Sue-Ann Wayow
WITH the withdrawal of Eugene Tiah from the Investigative Committee into the incident at Paria Fuel Trading Company, the Energy Chamber will now be consulting with relevant stakeholders on how to proceed in supporting the investigation.
One of the key stakeholders includes Minister of Energy and Energy Industries Stuart Young to whom the recommendation was made that Tiah should be a part of the five-member panel.
However, his selection did not sit well with the Opposition who demanded that he be removed from the independent committee claiming political bias. On Tuesday, Tiah withdrew.
The Energy Chamber in a statement also on Tuesday stated it will continue to express its full confidence in Tiah, a past Chairman of the board and an experienced professional who was widely respected within the energy industry and known for his commitment to safety leadership and his integrity.
The Chamber stated, “As the representative association for the industry, the Energy Chamber’s priority, and responsibility, is to support a thorough and detailed investigation into the incident and to subsequently share the findings of this investigation so that lessons learned are incorporated into industry safety policies, procedures and practices to avoid any similar incident in the future.
The Energy Chamber once again expressed condolences to the families, friends and colleagues of Fyzal Kurban, Rishi Nagassar, Yusuf Henry and Kazim Ali Jr.
Damage already done
However, Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar said the damage was already done to the Chamber’s credibility.
In a statement following Tiah’s withdrawal, the Opposition Leader said, “In their latest statement, PNM elements in the Energy Chamber continue to diminish the Chamber’s credibility by their continued support of Mr Tiah. If they had any honour, they would have nominated someone seen as neutral and credible in the first place,” she said.
The Energy Chamber may well have questions to answer in this investigation concerning the quality, integrity, legality and legitimacy of their Safe to Work (STOW) certifications Persad-Bissessar added.
She is suggesting that the Chamber do not have a nominee on the investigation committee.
Persad-Bissessar said, “The UNC has no issue with any chamber or group supporting any political party, however, we have an issue when they do it under the guise of neutrality. In future, the UNC and I look forward to working with the actual non-partisan members of the Energy Chamber.”
