APNU Member of Parliament Ganesh Mahipaul yesterday condemned the government over its failure to publicly identify a company to salvage the sunken MV Barima, 25 days after the deadline for expressions of interest expired.
In a strongly worded statement, Mahipaul accused the government of showing insufficient urgency and failing to keep the families of the victims and the wider public informed about the proposed recovery operation.
The Transport and Harbours Department had invited expressions of interest from qualified companies to salvage the vessel, with submissions closing on August 14.
Kiskadee Watch previously reported President Irfaan Ali as saying that ten companies had responded. The President said the submissions would be assessed and shortlisted firms invited to submit financial proposals. However, the government has not released the names of the respondents, identified those shortlisted or announced the selection of a salvager.
Mahipaul described the delay as disrespectful to the victims and their families and questioned whether recovering the vessel was being treated as a national priority.
The MV Barima capsized and sank off the Essequibo Coast near the mouth of the Pomeroon River on the night of July 18 while travelling from Georgetown to Port Kaituma. Scores of bodies were subsequently recovered and many passengers remain unaccounted for, making it the deadliest maritime disaster in Guyana’s history.
The government has established a Commission of Inquiry into the disaster, chaired by retired Belizean Justice Godfrey Smith. The commission has invited persons with relevant information or documents to make submissions, but no date has yet been announced for the commencement of public hearings.
Mahipaul contended that the vessel could contain evidence relevant to the inquiry, particularly amid questions about its condition and seaworthiness before it departed Georgetown.
“The longer the MV Barima remains on the seabed, the greater the concern about the preservation of evidence that could be critical to the Commission of Inquiry,” he said.
He argued that the government could not profess a commitment to uncovering the truth while failing to provide timely information about the recovery of what he described as the most important physical evidence connected to the disaster.
Mahipaul called on the government to disclose which companies were being considered, explain the delay and state when the salvage operation would begin.
“Salvage the vessel. Preserve the evidence. Tell the nation who is doing the job. Let the Commission of Inquiry examine the evidence. And let the truth come out,” he said.
A search of the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board’s publicly available records has not located any post-sinking tender opening, evaluation or contract award for the salvage operation.
Discussion