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Paria Fuel Trading Company Ltd has revealed it paid over $8.4 million in legal fees for representation at the commission of enquiry (CoE) into the 2022 diving tragedy, but continues to withhold the exact fees paid to each lawyer involved.

In a letter dated June 10, attorneys from the law firm Johnson, Camacho & Singh (JCS) wrote to Freedom Law, the firm representing former Petrotrin employee Anthony Dopson. Dopson filed a freedom of information (FOI) request in January asking for a breakdown of legal fees paid by Paria during the 2023 enquiry into the February 25, 2022, incident, in which five LMCS divers died after being trapped in a pipeline at Pointe-a-Pierre. One survived the ordeal.

In response, JCS provided six redacted cover letters and invoices totalling $8,439,492.70. The documents listed the names of the attorneys who represented Paria ­– Gilbert Peterson SC, Jason Mootoo SC, Gretel Baird, Thane Pierre, and Sebastian Peterson ­– but did not indicate how much each was paid. According to the letters, Peterson, as lead counsel, received the full payments and was responsible for distributing fees among the team. On February 6, JCS attorney Kendell Alexander said the company had already responded to similar FOI requests in the past.