Paria challenges a claim by Managing Director of Land and Marine Contracting Services Ltd, Kazim Ali Senior that he and his team were locked out of Paria when divers died in the pipeline.

Mr. Ali Snr, who is also the owner of LMCS, was under examination by Paria’s attorney Gilbert Peterson at the Commission of Enquiry yesterday.

Fyzal Kurban, Kazim Ali Jr, Rishi Nagassar and Yusuf Henry passed away inside the pipeline at Berth 6 in Point-a-Pierre.

Christopher Boodram was the lone survivor.

Mr. Ali is the father of Kazim Ali Jr. who perished in the pipeline.

He told the Commission yesterday, had Paria acted within the hour of 5 workers being sucked into the sea line, they would have survived.

He also said he and his team were prevented from assisting.

However, Mr. Peterson was not pleased that Paria’s Terminal Manager Collin Piper was being linked to those instructions.

At this point, Commission Chairman King’s Counsel Jerome Lynch intervened.

Throughout the enquiry, there were some discrepancies and confusion regarding the terminology and understanding of the operations of the pipelines and the manner in which oil is displaced by air pumping and blowing between the lines.

Along with this confusion of the pipeline operations, the equipment being used to show the court, lawyers and other members of the hearing the core bundles and statements, were dysfunctional which further delayed the progression of the hearing.