Three years after Martin Ellis, a visitor to Saint Lucia met his demise on lands bordering the Water and Sewerage Company (WASCO) compound in Roseau, the matter is still being played out in the Britsish press as the court proceedings reportedly ‘drags on’.
In a statemnt to THE VOICE, this week, Amy Silverston, wife of Ellis, reports that since her husband was electrocuted at the John Compton Dam in August 2019 there has been quite a stir in the UK press about his inquest.
Silverston states that, since then “the lawyers have been hard at work building a cast-iron case against Wasco, Vinci, the international engineering firm contracted to desilt the lake behind the dam, and their subcontractors Mega”.
The family of the deceased man argues that the utility company – WASCO and the other co-defendants have been pointing accusatory fingers at each other, while they continue to play the ‘blame game’ against one another.
“The three defendants, Wasco, Vinci and Mega, submitted comical responses to the case made against them,” adds Silverston. “Each blames the other, in particular Wasco and Vinci. In fact, they all claim they didn’t have anyone working there at the time, which rather begs the question (as to) who were all these people … that told Martin where to park and showed him and the boys where to walk to reach the top of the dam.”
An article published in The Telegraph states that Saint Lucia is denying compensation to the still grieving British family.
Ellis, 68, and his three teenage sons were reportedly trekking to a nature reserve when they were caught in a tropical thunderstorm and took shelter under the eaves of a pumping station in the vicinity of the Roseau Dam.
The deceased was heading to the rear of the building to relieve himself when he “came into contact with an energized part on the outside of the pump house”, according to the Chief Electrical Engineer Shane Jean at the time in a letter to the Minister for Infrastructure in August 2019.
Appalling that this is still dragging on. The culprits squabble amongst themselves whilst this severely disabled mother and her three boys struggle to live and afford the care she needs. St Lucia’s name is becoming mud in UK tourism – one pointless death was bad enough, but another, followed by this disgraceful shifting of blame onto the victim, makes it look like a shoddy gangster-run backwater. Holiday destination? You’ve got to be joking.