Removed from the life he once knew, goldsmith Tulsiram Sukdeo prepares to undergo yet another operation as he fights for compensation from the US-based company involved in the boat accident that maimed him, leaving him unable to earn a livelihood.
“He is not doing well,” his daughter Naseema ‘Pam’ Singh said. She told this newspaper that her father had completed another medical operation and is scheduled to undergo more. Sukdeo,57, was badly injured in the April 24, 2009 collision in the Demerara River during which the SV GEO – a vessel owned by US-based company, SSR Incorporated, collided with the passenger boat in which he was travelling. His injuries, detailed in court documents, included a fractured skull; complete loss of sight in the left eye; serious facial disfigurement and soft tissue damage to the left side of his face and head; severe cuts, wounds and scars to his face; severe and recurrent bouts of headaches and dizziness and nervous shock and depression.
He still has not fully recovered, Singh said. Sukdeo cannot remember the incident and remains at home unable to work, his mobility restricted. “He can’t manage the work that he was doing,” Singh said. The wounds around the left eye that he lost, ooze and his sight in the other eye is blurred. His face is scarred and there are injuries that have not fully healed; the flesh raw. Singh stated that her father now gets easily upset and having undergone several surgeries, still need more operations. While Sukdeo now manages to look after himself somewhat, having been unable to do so in the weeks following the incident, his wife along with other relatives have been by his side. But it is hard and they have not received any help from anyone. Her father even wrote a letter to the President requesting assistance, but only received a letter of acknowledgement, Singh said. He was just an “ordinary man” and this is his condition now, she lamented.
Sukdeo had in July filed a $10 million lawsuit against SSR Incorporated alleging that its agents were negligent and reckless. He had said that the Florida based company never accepted responsibility for the accident, but had promised in writing through its lawyers to contact and compensate him without accepting liability, in an effort to continue with a local project for which it was contracted – the Guyana/Suriname Submarine Cable Project. The SV GEO was here to assist in conducting near shore surveys aimed at determining the best possible route for the landing of a new submarine fibre-optic cable system when it collided with the passenger boat Sukdeo was travelling in.
When contacted last week Sukdeo’s attorney, Anil Nandlall told Stabroek News that the writ of summons along with statement of claim had been filed and leave was obtained from the court to serve the documents out of the jurisdiction at the SSR’s Florida office. He noted that by law the company is allowed 42 days to enter an appearance but the time expired and there was no entry of appearance from the company. He said he then applied for the matter to be proceeded with ex parte and is awaiting a date for it to commence.
Sukdeo had said in court documents that SSR Incorporated failed to contact and or compensate him since the incident in April. In addition to the $10 million, he is also claiming special damages in excess of $862,000 for continuing medical expenses and other relief. In referring to the collision, Sukdeo stated in court papers that he was a passenger in the passenger ferry Shadow which was travelling from Vreed-en-Hoop to Georgetown when the employees of the US company recklessly and negligently caused the marine vessel, the SV GEO, which was heading north, to collide with the passenger ferry causing him to suffer serious injuries.
Specifically, Sukdeo said, the company’s employees failed to observe and keep a proper lookout for other marine vessels traversing the Demerara River; they failed to slow down and proceed cautiously at that juncture of the Demerara River regularly traversed by passenger ferries operating the Georgetown to Vreed-en-Hoop route and they navigated in a reckless manner without due care and attention to other ferries and vessels.
He said that after the collision employees attached to the company did not stop at the scene to render any form of assistance to the passengers and ferry crew but simply sailed off in a northerly direction, but the vessel was eventually detained by the Guyana Transport and Harbours Department.
According to him, it was based on the contents of the letter sent by the company’s attorneys that the Harbour Master subsequently released the vessel. Sukdeo said too that because of the letter he had deferred the institution of legal proceedings pending an amicable settlement of the matter.
The man said in the court documents that he was taken to the Georgetown Public Hospital where he was examined by several doctors and treated for various injuries. He said his medical treatment continues as he still makes regular visits to the doctor and said also that he is scheduled to undergo another operation. Further, he had stated that he has been unable to work as a goldsmith and as a result has lost income.
