Two months on…
Nearly two months after Jason Fraser was killed in a gruesome accident when he was pulled through one of the chipper machines at Buck Hall, Barama Company Limited is to have another meeting with relatives of the 19- year-old to finalise discussions on compensation.
This was confirmed yesterday by Head of Corporate Affairs & Forests Planning at Barama, Mohindra Chand.
Speaking to this newspaper, Chand said, “We have had a few meetings with the family facilitated by the Ministry of Labour. We discussed compensation. We are to meet again very soon to review each other’s position and then we have to meet to agree on a final position.”
According to Barama, the Police had ruled out foul play, but the Ministry of Labour’s probe was found to be inconclusive. Chand said that nevertheless, the matter is being treated as an industrial accident.
Some weeks ago, Crime Chief Seelall Persaud said that the matter is being treated as an industrial accident since evidence to the contrary did not materialise.
The remains of the 19-year-old were removed from a chipper machine at Buck Hall on the Essequibo River in early September. It was reported that Fraser, of Kara Kara, Linden, was pulled into the mechanism while he was operating it.
According to reports, he was the sole operator in that section of the factory where ply-board is produced and was last seen alive earlier in the week of September 4; but after then company officials could not account for him. Other workers and management officials, worried over his sudden disappearance, mounted several searches after it was suggested that Fraser might have gone to another part of the concession.