Leader of the Forward Guyana Movement (FGM), Amanza Walton-Desir, has welcomed the latest update from the Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into the MV Barima tragedy, but is calling for more clarity on the investigative work undertaken so far.
In a press statement issued Thursday, Walton-Desir said that 24 hours after she publicly raised concerns about the state of the inquiry, the Commission provided its first substantial public account of the work it says has been undertaken, along with a General Notice inviting persons with relevant information or recommendations to contact its Secretariat.
She said she welcomed the additional information.
However, the politician said that much of the substantive work described by the Commission remains preliminary or in progress and argued that some of its most important assertions are expressed in terms so general that the public cannot properly assess what was actually done.
She pointed specifically to the Commission’s statement that it conducted a “preliminary, in-person survey of the site of the accident.”
Walton-Desir is questioning who conducted the exercise, which Commissioners attended, who accompanied them in a technical capacity, and the scope and method of the exercise.
She also questioned whether the exercise was simply a visit to the general location where the vessel sank or whether the wreck itself was located and subjected to any technical underwater or hydrographic examination.
“If not, is such an examination planned? What method was used or is proposed, and what technical expertise is available to conduct it?” Walton-Desir asked.
She said the Commission should also state whether a written, photographic or other technical record of the exercise was produced and what arrangements were made to secure and preserve any evidence obtained.
Walton-Desir said providing those particulars would not require the disclosure of evidence or the premature publication of findings.
“Providing these basic particulars would not require the disclosure of evidence or the premature publication of findings. It would simply allow the public to understand the nature of an investigative step that the Commission itself has chosen to place in the public domain.”
The FGM Leader also questioned whether MARAD participated in the site exercise or in the handling and safekeeping of physical evidence.
She also called for answers on efforts to secure or salvage the MV Barima, preserve the wreck as evidence and recover anyone who may remain with or around it.
On ministerial responsibility, she said, “The Commission must be permitted to establish the facts independently. The President cannot use that process as a constitutional waiting room in which ministerial responsibility is suspended until the Commission reports.”
