The Occupational Health and Safety  Agency, OSHA, is denouncing a claim that its  former Chief Inspector  Shervon Ali was forced to resign from his position for allegedly refusing to sign off on a doctored report on the February 25th diving tragedy which claimed the lives of four LMCS divers.

The allegation was made by Opposition Member of Parliament for Couva South, Rudranath Indarsingh who called on officials to state whether Mr Ali resigned “voluntarily or as a result of coercion from the Minister of Labour Stephen Mc Clashie, the Chairman and the Executive Director of OSHA.”

In a statement on Sunday, the company said Mr. Ali’s contract ended on April 5th, at which point he indicated he did not wish to renew.

“Any statement that expressly or implicitly suggests that Mr. Ali’s departure from the Agency was coerced is a falsehood and not grounded in any truth,” OSHA said.

It further clarified that a preliminary report into the diving tragedy was still being compiled.

“Therefore the suggestion that the former Chief Inspector was being pressured to sign a report that is still not yet complete is patently false. Moreover, Mr. Ali was responsible for assembling the investigative team and providing technical oversight, however not being the primary investigator he would not have been a signatory to the report,” OSHA said.

The Agency said it is still in the investigative stage of collecting evidence and analysing data.