PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad (CMC) – The independent Commission of Inquiry that was appointed to look into the death of four men who were sucked into a pipleline in Point-a-Pierre, Trinidad nearly two months ago, is in the process of preparing for public hearings.

In February, the government announced the appointment of the team after four underwater welders were killed while working on a 36-inch underwater crude oil pipeline.

Speaking with reporters on Friday, chair of the Commission, former head of Jamaica’s Appeal Court, Justice Cecil Dennis Morrison said several steps need to be taken before public hearings began.

Morrison and local subsea specialist Gregory Wilson were given their instruments of appointment on Friday.

Their terms of reference have 13 guiding points with the end result being them making observations, findings and recommendations into whether there was any breach of duty or criminal liability, what should be the appropriate practices going forward, what policies should be implemented and any other recommendations deemed necessary.

According to Morrison, the first order of business after collecting all the evidence, would be to convene a procedural hearing.

He said this will be used to assess the value of all the material gathered to determine which will be useful in the Commission of Inquiry.

The commissioners have six months to submit their findings from the start of the public hearings.

The Commission of Inquiry was established to probe the circumstances that led to the deaths of Kazim Ali Jr, Fyzal Kurban, Yusuf Henry and Rishi Nagassar after they were trapped in the pipeline on February 25.

Their bodies were recovered on February 28 and according to their autopsies, the died by drowning. Only one diver – Christopher Boodram, survived.

At the time, the men were doing routine maintenance and were employees of LCMS Ltd.

The commissioners have said that, as far as they knew, this was the first of its kind in the region and world so there was no precedent for them to be guided by.

Once the Commission of Inquiry gets underway, it will be held at the old office of the Attorney General on St Vincent Street.