attorneys representing the family and Noble House Seafoods would then negotiat
| – victim to also receive assistance from NIS, new job, artificial limbs by Michael JordanNoble House Seafoods has offered financial compensation to Russell Cornelius, the seaman whose legs were severed while he was working on one of the company’s trawlers. Russell CorneliusBut attorneys representing the two parties are yet to agree on the size of the financial package, and were still locked in negotiations yesterday.Officials from the fishing company have also indicated that they will find a new job for the disabled man and provide him with artificial limbs.The new job will reportedly entail Cornelius monitoring the company’s surveillance cameras.In addition, Noble House has given assurance that Cornelius’s National Insurance Scheme (NIS) contributions are in order and he will receive financial assistance from the NIS for his injuries.Noble House personnel made the pledge last Friday during a meeting that the Ministry of Labour had arranged between the fishing company’s officials and Cornelius’s relatives.During the meeting at the Ministry’s Brickdam offices, Cornelius’s employees repeatedly denied that they had not intended to compensate him.According to one official, the company had suggested that the family come up with a figure which they deemed to be adequate.Once that was done, attorneys representing the family and Noble House Seafoods would then negotiate, the official said.Kaieteur News was told that Attorney-at-Law Raphael Trotman, is representing the fishing company, while Attorney-at-Law Nigel Hughes is looking into Cornelius’s interests.The injured seaman has four children, including a one-year-old son, and the victim and his relatives have expressed concern about their future.They had alleged that during a meeting on January 27 last Noble House personnel had informed them that the company would not compensate Cornelius.Noble House Personnel Manager, Piercy Corlette, repeatedly declined to comment about the company’s plans for the injured man.Cornelius, 43, of Grove, East Bank Demerara had his legs severed at the knees on January 18 when his limbs got entangled in a winch on the World Friend 307, a trawler that is owned by Noble House Seafoods.Trawler captain Roy Soknanan and four of his crewmen have all submitted statements about the mishap.In his statement, Soknanan said that at around 18:30 on January 18 last he gave instructions to pick up the nets.He stated that as soon as the winch started and stopped, two crew members ran into the wheelhouse and said that “something wrong with Cornelius”.Soknanan said he left the wheelhouse and saw the mangled Cornelius on the try-net winch.He assisted in lifting Cornelius into the cabin, where the injured man was placed on a mattress. The trawler captain stated that he then wrapped Cornelius’s legs and put ice on them.According to Soknanan, he contacted Noble House Seafoods Limited, and the Coast Guard eventually arrived and transported Cornelius to the Customs House wharf.The still-conscious seaman was then rushed by ambulance to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation. |
