Walton-Desir raises concerns over MV Barima salvaging
Leader of the Forward Guyana Movement (FGM) Amanza Walton-Desir has called for an independent review of the salvage operation involving the MV Barima, asking why the government failed to inform grieving relatives, survivors and defence attorneys before work to raise the vessel commenced.
In a press statement issued yesterday, Walton-Desir said the lack of transparency surrounding the operation, coupled with the death of a Venezuelan diver at the wreck site, raised serious concerns about safety and the preservation of evidence ahead of the criminal proceedings involving three men charged with murder in connection with the July 18 tragedy.
She said families of the victims, survivors and Guyanese at home and abroad had spent the past 100 days calling for the vessel to be raised, but were only made aware that the operation had commenced after diver Luis Martinez died at the site on October 28.
According to her, it was BK International, the company awarded the salvage contract, and not the government, that confirmed Martinez’s death five days later. She questioned why the commencement of such a significant operation had not been officially announced and why relatives and other parties with an interest in the wreck had not been informed.
Walton-Desir further pointed out that the failure to notify the relevant parties could have serious implications for the criminal proceedings against Captain Kevin Price, Chief Mate Rondell Dwayne Roberts and Goods Superintendent Delon Granderson, who have been charged with murder arising from the sinking.
She maintained that the wreck represents crucial physical evidence in the case, including its hull and anything recovered from inside it, and warned that disturbing the vessel without defence representatives being present could compromise evidence and undermine the accused men’s right to a fair hearing. “The evidence from all appearances has already been compromised,” she said, adding that anything altered or lost during the operation could prevent the court from properly establishing what happened.
Walton-Desir also questioned whether the legal requirements governing the recovery of sunken vessels had been followed. She pointed to provisions requiring written permission from the Receiver of Wreck before a sunken vessel can be raised or broken up, as well as the Maritime Administration Department’s (MARAD) responsibility to notify mariners and the public about operations that could affect safety at sea.
She also questioned whether the necessary written permission had been granted and why no Notice to Mariners had been published on MARAD’s website.
She called on Public Utilities and Aviation Minister Deodat Indar to disclose when the salvage operation began, the conditions attached to the permission granted, which parties were notified, whether the Commission of Inquiry was informed and what work had already been carried out on the wreck.
Her concerns come against the backdrop of mounting frustration among relatives of those who died or remain missing in the July 18 disaster, who have repeatedly protested outside the Office of the President, demanding that the vessel be recovered.
BK International was awarded a $1.034 billion contract on October 6 to salvage the wreck off Devonshire Castle Flats, Essequibo Coast, under a “no cure, no pay” arrangement. However, the published procurement award did not specify a mobilisation or recovery deadline, the approved salvage method or the detailed conditions governing the operation.
The commencement of the operation was also not publicly clarified before the death of Martinez, a 66-year-old Venezuelan diver, who became unresponsive while undertaking diving operations at the wreck site on October 28.
Police disclosed the incident four days later, without initially identifying the operation as being connected to the MV Barima salvaging. BK Group subsequently said Martinez had been contracted through Salvamentos del Caribe C.A. and had apparently suffered a heart attack, according to the resident doctor aboard the operation. The company said a full-time doctor was present.
The death has added to questions about the safety arrangements governing the salvage operation, with the PNCR/APNU also calling for an independent investigation into the circumstances surrounding Martinez’s death.
Meanwhile, the five-member Commission of Inquiry into the MV Barima disaster began public evidentiary hearings on October 14. During earlier engagements with relatives, commissioners stressed the importance of ensuring that the salvage operation does not damage the vessel or destroy evidence that could assist the inquiry.
The sinking claimed 73 lives, while 76 people survived. Relatives have continued to demand the recovery of the vessel, hoping it would help establish what happened and allow them to retrieve the remains of loved ones who are still missing.
Walton-Desir said the government must also make arrangements for grieving families to witness the salvage operation, as far as possible, and extend the same opportunity to the legal representatives of the three accused men.
She insisted that an independent assessment of both the safety of the operation and the integrity of the evidence was now unavoidable. “Seventy-three bodies were brought home from the Barima and around thirty families are still waiting for a body to bury,” she said, arguing that families who had spent months demanding answers had instead been kept in the dark.
Source: Kiskadee Watch
