PARIA Trading Company Ltd, which has cited safety concerns for the lawyers who were involved in the Commission of Enquiry (CoE) into the Paria diving tragedy should the amount they were each paid during the matter be made public, has issued redacted documents of the millions in fees paid after a trade unionist challenged the company’s refusal to disclose the information.

It showed total figures of between $889,513.17 and $1,841,343.83 plus VAT being made payable to senior counsel Gilbert Peterson and the CoE legal team.

Anthony Dopson requested copies of official documents which stated and outlined the names of lawyers and their total fees paid by Paria for legal representation in the 2023 CoE into the February 25, 2022 driving tragedy where four divers died and one man survived.