By Sue-Ann Wayow
THE tearful testimony of Paria Fuel Trading Company Ltd Acting Technical Lead Catherine Balkissoon did not move the general public as many took to social media to express no sympathy towards her.
Making her into a meme, one even wrote an entire poem based on her evidence.
Balkissoon on Wednesday sat in the witness box at the Commission of Enquiry (CoE) at Tower D of the International Waterfront Centre in Port-of-Spain.
At the beginning of her interview with the Commission, she said she was feeling nervous and requested to drink her coffee which was allowed.
Balkissoon, an engineer, also admitted being intimated by the CoE’s setting which was streamed live.
She spoke softly throughout her questioning and burst into tears on more than one occasion.
The first time was when CoE’s chairman Jerome Lynch, KC asked if during Paria’s risk assessment factored in that relatives might be more willing to save their loved ones than trained professionals.
He later apologised to her while at the same time maintaining his point that that, should have also been taken into account.
The second time was when attorney Prakash Ramadhar, representing the families of two LMCS divers grilled her on the action plan to rescue the four men who eventually died.
Ramadhar was less apologetic than Lynch for causing Balkissoon distress.
One meme compared her to actor Johnny Depp’s ex-wife Amber Heard.
“See Catherine Balkissoon “amber hearding” her testimony at the Paria CoE…” was the headline.
Another said, “Catherine Balkissoon who calls herself an engineer cannot tell the difference between Possible and Probable…WOW!”
One showed Balkissoon along with Government ministers Faris Al-Rawi and Terrence Deyalsingh who admitted they shed tears for different situations.
“Tears on Demand!” was the title of that one.
Recalling the days the grieved families camped outside Paria’s compound in Pointe-a-Pierre, the meme stated, “How Hard was it for the families of divers you all left out in the cold air without accommodation?? Was that not hard for Catherine Balkissoon?”
The seven-stanza poem made Balkissoon the protagonist.
Part of the poem by Karena Bachan reads, “I cared more about the assets, I followed the instructions, I only relayed the words, I provided no solutions.
“I can cry on demand you see, It’s not that I lack heart unless,It comes home to me,I did not ask forgiveness…”
Balkissoon confessed to the CoE that since the accident occurred on February 25 at Paria’s berth #6, she has been asking herself if there was something else that could have been done to save the lives of Fyzal Kurban, Yusuf Henry, Rishi Nagassar and Kazim Ali Jr.
