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‘Float the Barima’ …Families demand answers, slam systemic failures and unequal payouts
(Kaieteur News) – Relatives of victims missing in the MV Barima sinking and family members of maritime staff criminally charged in connection with the disaster returned to the picket line outside the Office of the President on Tuesday. Protesters criticised systemic injustice, government opacity, and what they termed a slow, reactive state response nearly three months after the vessel went down.
Families protesting Office of the President.
Demonstrators demanded the immediate refloating of the vessel, faster proceedings from the Commission of Inquiry (COI), and true accountability from state authorities, accusing officials of scapegoating low-level workers while offering unequal financial support and poor communication to grieving families. A central point of contention on the picket line was the legal targeting and remand of lower-level Transport and Harbours Department employees, including Goods Superintendent Delon Grandison. Relatives argued that authorities are detaining front-line staff while shielding higher-ranking management responsible for overall safety oversight and maintenance.
Grandison’s mother, Marlene Grandison, maintained her son’s innocence, emphasizing that he was not aboard the vessel when it sank. “He is not supposed to be in prison,” Grandison said, noting her son had completed his daytime shift and was at home when the tragedy occurred at night. “He wasn’t on the boat… He finished working and he came home, and all of a sudden, he ended up in prison. He’s just a goods superintendent.” A relative of missing passengers, Neil and Kenrick Cort echoed these concerns, stating that authorities “jail three men that I would consider at the bottom of the ladder instead of holding those who are accountable, accountable.”
Family members of missing passengers stressed that retrieving the submerged vessel remains the only way to find closure and gather physical evidence for the ongoing investigation.
Families protesting Office of the President.
Tiana Thomas, whose 13-year-old brother Brian Thomas remains unaccounted for following the tragedy, criticised the government’s timeline for salvage operations.
“We need the boat to float because we need some kind of evidence that he died, because we don’t know where he is,” Thomas said. “It’s September… time is going. I feel like when September is done, they’ll forget about me. We’re fighting because we need the boat to float.”
Families protesting Office of the President.
Thomas, whose mother survived the sinking, added that the government’s relief efforts have failed families left without breadwinners or answers, leaving households to fend for themselves.
Protesting families also revealed discrepancies in how the State has distributed financial assistance, alleging that different households have received varying amounts of relief for funeral expenses without clear explanation. According to family members, while the Cort family received $650,000 per missing family member to assist with burial costs, other families were provided only $350,000.
“Why is the figure different? Why are persons getting different amounts?” the Cort family spokesperson asked. “Shouldn’t it be the same across the board? There is no life that is more important than the other. All lives on that boat deserve the same treatment, the same amount of dignity, the same amount of respect.”
Families further criticised the complete lack of direct communication from the State and the COI. Relatives reported learning about major developments, such as the opening of salvage bids 25 days after submission, through public social media channels rather than official State updates.
Demonstrators vowed to continue their weekly protests outside the Office of the President every Tuesday until the MV Barima is refloated and formal proceedings under the Commission of Inquiry commence.
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Every person, Organization should BOYCOTT Irfan Ali’s COI inquiry of the
sunken Barima. That is totally shut down this farce that Irfan has perpetrated
on Guyanese.
Until Irfan floats/raise the Barima from the Atlantic, dry dock the boat for evidence.
Disband the COI…they are wasting time, and Irfan is wasting Taxpayers money.