Don’t Bury the Truth

Jul 31, 2026 Editorial, News

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Editorial…

(Kaieteur News) – It is remarkable how quickly the government’s position shifted. Soon after the MV Barima disaster, President Irfaan declared that his government will do everything in its power to ensure passengers are rescued, bodies and recovered and families get closure.

Today, the same administration is singing a different tune of leaving the ill-fated ferry that sank on July 18,.2026 on the seabed as a memorial. The difficulties faced by divers were repeatedly cited. The nation was told, in effect, that the chapter was closing. Then Opposition Leader Azruddin Mohamed publicly offered to finance and coordinate a full salvage operation using international expertise. Suddenly, the Government announced that the families would decide whether the vessel should be raised.

That abrupt reversal raises a troubling question. If salvage was always an option, why now it is left to the families to decide.

No one disputes that the wishes of grieving families matter. They should matter. They have endured unimaginable pain. Many are still waiting for the remains of loved ones. But this tragedy ceased being a private family matter the day more than a hundred lives were placed at risk aboard a state-operated ferry. It became a national disaster demanding national accountability.

The MV Barima is no ordinary shipwreck. It is a potential crime scene.

Somewhere inside that vessel may lie the answers to the questions haunting Guyana. Were the navigation systems functioning? Was the Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon operational? Was the Search and Rescue Transponder working? Were the life rafts serviceable? What was the condition of the engines? Did mechanical failure contribute to the disaster? Was the vessel carrying cargo beyond what it should have? These are not matters that can be settled by speculation or witness recollection alone. Physical evidence often tells a story that memories cannot.

Every day that the vessel remains underwater increases the possibility that crucial evidence deteriorates or disappears forever.

That is why the argument that a Commission of Inquiry can proceed even if the vessel is never recovered is deeply unsatisfactory. A Commission should have access to every available piece of evidence before reaching conclusions. To knowingly leave perhaps the most important exhibit on the ocean floor risks reducing the inquiry to an exercise built on incomplete facts.

This concern is not confined to the parliamentary opposition. Opposition parties have already criticised the manner in which the Commission of Inquiry was established, arguing that there was no consultation and calling for an internationally recognised marine casualty investigation alongside the COI. Transparency Institute Guyana Inc. has likewise questioned whether the process can genuinely inspire public confidence, saying that appointing foreign commissioners alone does not make an inquiry independent if key stakeholders were excluded from its formation.

Those concerns become even more significant if the vessel itself is left where it lies.

Government insists it has “nothing to hide.” If that is indeed so, then recovering the MV Barima should strengthen, not weaken its position. The surest way to silence allegations of negligence, regulatory failure or official misconduct is to allow the evidence to speak. A vessel resting beneath the Atlantic cannot answer questions. A recovered vessel can.

There is another reason why recovery matters. Guyana has suffered too many national tragedies where lessons were promised but accountability proved elusive. Citizens remember inquiries that produced lengthy reports while confidence in public institutions continued to erode. This Commission of Inquiry cannot afford to become another exercise where conclusions are questioned because critical evidence was left beyond reach.

No responsible government should fear the fullest possible investigation into the country’s worst maritime disaster in decades. If international expertise is available, whether through the Government or through credible offers from elsewhere, it should be objectively evaluated. The objective must not be political victory for one side or defeat for another. The objective must be the truth.

A memorial has its place. But memorials are built after every reasonable effort has been exhausted—not before. To declare the seabed a permanent resting place while the vessel still holds possible evidence would risk creating not merely a monument to the dead, but a monument to unanswered questions.

The families deserve closure. The nation deserves accountability. The Commission deserves every available piece of evidence.

Raise the MV Barima. Do not bury the truth with it.

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• COI, Editorial, MV Barima, Transparency Institute Guyana Inc.

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