The Government has approved the $1 million ex-gratia payment for each of the families of the deceased divers and the lone survivor of the Paria Fuel Company tragedy, which occurred three years ago.

A letter dated April 22, 2025, sent from the permanent secretary in the Ministry of Energy to attorneys Devi Ramnarine and Saira Lakhan, of Magnus Chambers, advised that the Government has approved the payment of an ex-gratia award in the sum of $1 million to the estate of Fyzal Kurban, who died as a result of a diving incident on February 25, 2022, at No 36 Sealine Riser on Berth No 6 of the Paria Fuel Trading Company located in the Gulf of Paria.

It also noted that the ex-gratia payment is not to be “construed with the admittance of any liability or wrongdoing” on the part of the Ministry of Energy or the Government.