-T&HD has not reached out to family despite his 37 years of service
Fifty-seven-year-old Neil Cort, a victim of the MV Barima tragedy, is still missing. Although he served the Transport and Harbours Department (T&HD) for 37 years, no one from this agency, led by the Ministry of Public Works, has reached out to the family to offer their support.
“He was well-known but no one reached out to me so far. That’s the thing that’s hurting me so much. To know the kind of person he was; to know the way that he went down. I tell myself he didn’t deserve it,” his wife Dianne Cort stated recently.
Speaking in an interview with Kiskadee Watch, she said her husband ran the canteen on the boat for many years, but served the T&HD for many more years prior. “He used to be at the Georgetown ferry; during those years they had the ferry. He used to be there selling tickets and so on. From there, he went to Region One, still selling the tickets,” she reflected. He also did other jobs like helping to steady the boats when they reached their destination.
Mrs Cort said that her husband hailed from East Ruimveldt in Georgetown, while she grew up in Mabaruma. They met when they were very young as she used the ferry to travel to Georgetown to spend time with relatives.
Mrs. Cort said that since the tragedy, her husband’s son had travelled almost daily to search among the recovered bodies in the hope of finding him. “Every day he went down there. He had to go through body after body,” she said, adding, “At one point, they told us they believed they had found my husband, but it turned out to be one of the sailors from the boat.”
She remains convinced that her husband’s body is still inside the boat. “I feel my husband is on that vessel because he couldn’t swim, and there is no way he could have swim out of that boat”, she said.
Cort is among those urging authorities to raise the vessel, believing it is the only way her family may finally find answers. “I need the boat to come up. Even if it’s only his bones in there; you have to find some trace of him. Maybe it’s the pants he was wearing with his keys still inside the pocket. You must find something, because I know he didn’t come out of that boat. He couldn’t swim,” she said.
Meanwhile, his daughter, Jasmin Cort, is preparing to host a celebration of life service on Sunday for her father and her uncle, Kenrick Cort, 53, who also remains missing following the tragedy.
Speaking with Kiskadee Watch on Wednesday, Jasmin said neither the THD nor any of its representatives has contacted the family since the disaster. She said that during a recent meeting with President Irfaan Ali, he asked how he could provide immediate assistance and invited her to submit a list of items needed for Sunday’s service. Jasmin is still waiting on a response from Ali’s office.
She noted, however, that a social worker contacted the family and arranged for members of the Assemblies of God Church to visit their home to provide spiritual support.
Jasmin has also expressed concern over the delay in raising the boat despite an announcement that it will be lifted. “I’m still concerned about the boat. It’s taking too long to close the bidding process,” she said.
In a previous interview, Jasmin said she thought putting out the bid for the project was just a stalling tactic. She recalled that when she and other families went to meet with Ali last week, he told them that his technical team was reviewing two proposals from international companies to raise the vessel. “So I thought they would pick one. Is it not time sensitive? I do not feel good or relieved. Why wait until August 14th to close?” she questioned.
She said she made it clear that no expenses should be spared in bringing up the vessel. “We deserve to have closure and to know what happened to them,” she stated.
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