The first Procedural Hearing for the Commission of Enquiry into the Paria tragedy begins today.

It will set the stage for the Evidentiary Hearing to come later this year.

The Procedural Hearing will take place today and tomorrow at Tower D of the International Waterfront Center, Port of Spain.

Lead Counsel to the Commission Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj SC says this hearing is solely to set out the arrangements for the Evidentiary Hearing and no evidence is being heard at this stage of the enquiry.

He says the Commission is in the investigative stage.

Mr. Maharaj says the report stage comes next where the Commissioners would prepare their report.

Maharaj said the COE has so far reviewed thousands of pages of documentary evidence.

The Commission has been tasked with probing the circumstances, which led to the drowning deaths of 4 LMCS divers who were conducting repairs on an underwater pipeline on February 25^th, 2022.

Christopher Boodram, Fyzal Kurban, Rishi Nagassar, Kazim Ali Jr and Yusuf Henry went to Paria’s Pointe-a-Pierre facility to conduct maintenance works on a pipeline when they were sucked in.

Private divers who defied orders and went in search of the men rescued Mr. Boodram.

The other 4 died.