Opposition Leader Azruddin Mohamed yesterday said he has received no response from the government to his offer to finance and undertake the salvaging of the MV Barima, adding that he intends to make a formal written proposal.
“No update, nothing at all,” Mohamed said when contacted by Kiskadee Watch.
He said relatives of those who died in the tragedy, as well as survivors, told him that President Irfaan Ali informed them during a meeting at State House that he did not believe salvaging the vessel was feasible.
Despite this, Mohamed maintained that he has not abandoned the proposal and is preparing a formal request to the government. “I want to write and send it to them. I’m working on doing a formal request to send to them,” he shared.
Mohamed last Tuesday indicated his willingness to finance the operation and has previously said he has identified international partners with the equipment and expertise needed to recover the vessel. He said he believes that raising the MV Barima would allow any remaining human remains to be recovered, provide closure for grieving families and preserve evidence for the Commission of Inquiry into the tragedy.
Prime Minister Mark Phillips has indicated that the vessel would likely remain on the ocean floor because of the difficulties divers had encountered. There was also the circulation of a government document asking relatives of those who died in the tragedy to consent to the vessel being designated a memorial site.
“The government’s decision to leave the MV Barima at the bottom of the Atlantic is premature and wicked,” Mohamed said in a video posted on his Facebook page. “It is a decision that should not have been made while scores of families are still waiting on their loved ones who are still missing. To abandon the MV Barima now is an act of cruelty towards those families,” he added.
Mohamed said families of the missing had reached out to him, insisting that they wanted the remains of their loved ones recovered, regardless of their condition. He observed that the government had not exhausted all available options to recover the vessel and had failed to seek assistance from international salvage operators with the specialised equipment and expertise required to raise it.
He questioned why discussions had already begun about converting the wreck into a memorial and suggested that leaving it on the seabed would prevent crucial evidence from being examined. He further alleged that the ferry had been overloaded and operating with only one engine, repeating claims that the vessel lacked a functioning emergency position-indicating radio beacon, had no operational search-and-rescue transponder, an unusable anchor, non-functioning radar and life rafts that had expired in 2022.
Mohamed also argued that responsibility for the tragedy rested with Public Works Minister Juan Edghill rather than the three Transport and Harbours Department employees who have since been charged with murder.
“Let me make my position clear. I, Azruddin Mohamed, Leader of the Opposition, am prepared to undertake this salvage operation,” he declared, noting that he has already engaged unnamed international partners who had assured him they possessed the equipment, expertise and capability required to recover the vessel. “Give me the permission to float this vessel,” he said. “I will recover the vessel so that the CoI can be properly conducted.”
“If the government truly has nothing to hide, then there should be no objection to bringing up the MV Barima,” he added.
The MV Barima capsized late on July 18 while en route from Georgetown to Port Kaituma. It was carrying passengers and cargo when it encountered difficulties off the Pomeroon coast.
The tragedy claimed dozens of lives, while scores of passengers were rescued during an extensive multi-agency search and rescue operation involving the Guyana Defence Force, the Guyana Coast Guard, local fishermen and regional partners. A Commission of Inquiry has since been established to determine the cause of the disaster, examine whether negligence or institutional failures contributed to the sinking and recommend measures to prevent a similar tragedy.
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