Jasmine Cort, whose father Neil Cort remains missing following the MV Barima disaster, yesterday protested the treatment of grieving relatives by police after an encounter near the Kingston seawall that at one point left her seated on the ground.
Speaking passionately after being manhandled by officers, Cort said protesters had gathered with placards to demand answers about relatives whose bodies had not been recovered.
The protest took place behind the Pegasus Hotel, some distance from the seawall bandstand where King Charles III was scheduled to meet members of the public.
“The PPP government has rolled out a red carpet for King Charles. But this is the reality. This is the real Guyana,” Cort said.
“Chains may be gone, but they have replaced it with barricades.”
Cort said those gathered were unarmed and should have been allowed to protest peacefully.
“All we had were placards. Nobody here has weapons. Nobody here has a megaphone. All we had were placards and our voices.”
Her father and uncle, Kenrick Cort, remain unaccounted for following the sinking. She said the family was still waiting for their bodies.
“Where is my father? Where is my uncle?” she asked.
“Imagine waking up in the morning and the first thought you have is of your father. The last thought you have is of your father.”
Cort described her father as a humble, honest and hardworking man whose support had enabled her to receive a private education from nursery through tertiary level.
“My father loved me. My father loved me. I never had to ask for anything twice,” she said.
“He was a believer in our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. And I will stand up and I will speak and I will protest for my father and my uncle every single day if I have to.”
She questioned why officials responsible for the vessel remained in office and accused the government of failing to respond adequately to families’ suffering.
Cort alleged that the MV Barima had been unsafe, overcrowded and overloaded, and had been operating on one engine.
She also alleged that restrictions on the protest reflected instructions passing down through the political and police leadership.
“The government of Guyana only have love for party. They only see party. They do not see people. They do not see the hurts that families have to go through,” she said.
The state-operated passenger and cargo ferry sank off the Essequibo Coast on July 18 while travelling from Georgetown to Port Kaituma. Seventy-three bodies were recovered and 76 people were rescued, while authorities reported that about 30 others remained unaccounted for.
Bereaved relatives have since staged weekly protests demanding that the wreck be raised, both to recover missing loved ones and preserve evidence about the circumstances of the disaster. Tuesday’s demonstration outside the Office of the President was their eighth weekly protest.
BK International was awarded a $1.034 billion contract on October 6 to salvage the wreck off Devonshire Castle Flats on a “no cure, no pay” basis. The published procurement award record did not specify a mobilisation or recovery deadline, and relatives have repeatedly sought a firm timetable.
A five-member Commission of Inquiry chaired by former Belizean judge Justice Godfrey Phillip Smith is investigating the disaster. Public evidentiary hearings began on October 14. Commissioners have stressed that recovery of the 87-year-old vessel must be carefully planned to avoid damaging potential evidence.
Captain Kevin Price, Chief Mate Rondell Dwayne Roberts and Goods Superintendent Delon Granderson face murder charges arising from the sinking. Relatives and supporters have demanded accountability beyond those three employees, including at the level of the officials responsible for the ferry service.
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