By Andre Bagoo Saturday, October 24 2009

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After court: Yanick Quesnel is wheeled out of the Hall of Justice by his father Bernard Quesnel. Ana Carolina Barry-Laso (left) and Yanick's uncle Cha...

SINCE January 5, 2006, the board of the special purpose state company charged with ensuring the safety at the Pigeon Point beach noted concerns over the safety of bathers in relation to boat traffic at the facilities.

But it was only on July 13, 2007, the day after Yanick Quesnel and his Spanish friend Ana Carolina Barry-Laso were almost killed when a pirogue struck them while they were bathing at the beach, that Pigeon Point Heritage Park (PPHP) Limited installed safety buoys which could have prevented the accident.

Further, PPHP failed to install such buoys even after the executive council of the Tobago House of Assembly (THA), which holds the lands managed by PPHP on behalf of the State, forwarded “concerns” over the “safety and security” of visitors to the beach to the State-owned company on July 27, 2006.

In testimony at the Port-of-Spain Seventh Civil Court, where Quesnel and Barry-Laso have brought a suit against PPHP Limited, the THA, and the Office of the Attorney General, PPHP director Tobagonian Kamau Akili yesterday admitted to a litany of delays which resulted in the company failing to take effective steps to ensure that their own concerns over the safety of bathers were placated.

Under cross-examination from Douglas Mendes SC, lead attorney for Quesnel and Barry-Laso, Akili admitted that the board first noted that there was a need for floats and ropes to demarcate a clear bathing area in its minutes of January 5, 2006. Then, on January 31, 2006, the board noted concerns about the operations of jet-skis in the area. On February 1, according to Mendes, the board once more noted “concerns about jet skis” in the area endangering bathers and resolved to have buoys installed by May 2, 2006. But that deadline was never met.

Once more, in board minutes dated April 27 and June 29 no action was noted.

By July 27, 2006, the THA’s executive council had informed PPHP of its concerns over the safety of visitors and the need to regularise motored sports on the beach. But in a board note dated August 24, 2006, the board simply identified the need “to have discussions” with Errol Ceasar, an official of the Maritime Services Division of the Ministry of Works and Transport in relation to the installation of buoys and signs on the beach.

Another note, dated September 28, 2006, notes the need “to write” the said official. But the resolutions to despatch correspondence were not always met, Akili said.

By November 30, 2006, the board noted that it had paid the suppliers of the buoys, but there was a problem which kept back their installation. On December 14, 2006, anchors for the buoys were supplied, but the buoys needed to be painted. The issue was left unresolved in minutes for January 25, 2007. On February 23, 2007 the board noted, “there is a problem with the inflatable buoys.”

The issue remained pending in minutes for March 27, 2007. But on April 26, 2007, the board noted, “management to sort this out” by May 2, 2007, a full year after the original deadline. But by May 24, only safety signs for the beach had been “prepared” but no buoys were installed.

Quesnel and Barry-Laso were struck by a pirogue at the beach on the afternoon of June 12, 2007. Quesnel, now 19, was 17 at the time of the accident. Barry-Laso was 16.

It was only the day after the accident that the installation of the buoys began.

In the minutes for June 21, 2007, one year and six months after the issue was first raised, the board wryly noted, “buoys installed. Assignment completed.”

As this litany of delay was read out in court yesterday, Quesnel’s family became visibly distraught.

Quesnel himself bore a serious face. Still recovering from serious injuries from the incident, including multiple head injuries and paralysis, he sat in a wheelchair wearing a black and red checkered shirt. His once long hair has now been cut into a short style. Unable to move his lower body, he often clasped the arms of his wheelchair and, with the strength of his arms, lifted his upper body in order to stretch. When the presiding judge, Justice Judith Jones, rose at the end of hearing, Quesnel lifted his upper body with his arms, as though rising with the rest of the courtroom in deference to the judge.

The hearing of evidence came to an end yesterday with the brief testimony of one witness after Akili, Ag Cpl Clive Joseph of Mount St George, Tobago. Written submissions are to be filed in the negligence case by December 22 and January 22. February 10 has been set aside tentatively for the hearing of any further explanatory submissions.

During cross-examination yesterday Akili conceded that there are no barriers to prevent paying patrons of Pigeon Point from using the beach. He said PPHP had also been advised that there are currently no laws to protect bathers at beaches.

He noted that on one occasion buoys had been installed at the beach but they were removed because they were metallic and thus unsuitable for a public bathing space.