MV Barima COI: Commission to cover expenses for witnesses – News Room Guyana

The Commission of Inquiry (COI) into the capsizing and sinking of the MV Barima will cover the expenses of survivors, witnesses and families of those who perished as it prepares to begin formal hearings next week.

Commission Secretary Javed Shadick told the News Room that ensuring witnesses are able to come forward and testify is the commission’s first priority, with arrangements being made to ensure they are not financially burdened by participating in the inquiry.

He said the commission is assessing the number of survivors, witnesses and families living in far-flung communities and will determine whether hearings should be taken to those communities or whether individuals should be brought to Georgetown.

“For all the witnesses, or the survivors and the families of the perished persons what we intend to do is to have a gauge of how many persons are in those far-fetched communities and if the numbers are enough we will move to those communities and do the sittings there.

“If those numbers are small then we will move those persons to Georgetown and have the sittings here (Arthur Chung Conference Center),” Shadick told the News Room on Wednesday.

He said those arrangements are currently being considered by the commission and its secretariat.

“Also all survivors, all witnesses, families they will be refunded for their expenses and/or we will make arrangements for those persons to be brought to Georgetown or whether we go there etc. So all expenses will be looked after by the secretariat,” Shadick said.

Commissioner Nyree Dawn Alfonso said the commission will visit Mabaruma and Port Kaituma next Monday and Tuesday, where most of the survivors and their families are located.

She said the visits will allow the commissioners and secretariat to get a better understanding of the logistics involved in facilitating testimony while avoiding placing additional inconvenience or expense on survivors and their families.

“So we would have a better appreciation together with the secretariat the logistics of us going there, they coming there…so we would have a better appreciation together with the secretariat…so we would have a better appreciation of the logistics of not making it inconvenient or expensive,” Alfonso said.

The commission chaired by Justice Godfrey Smith and comprising the other appointed commissioners, held its first public engagements on Wednesday since being sworn in. Formal hearings are scheduled to commence on October 11, with more than 100 witnesses expected to testify.

Before the hearings begin, the commission will conduct a series of site visits, including its planned visits to Mabaruma and Port Kaituma.

In his opening statement, Smith said the commission’s task is to establish what happened to the Barima and why it happened, as well as the circumstances that allowed the tragedy to occur.

“To put in plain language, our task is to find out what happened to the Barima and why it happened? What circumstances permitted it to happen? Were there warnings signs? Where there failures? Were laws, regulations and safety procedures complied with? Were they adequate? Were they properly administered and enforced? Who is responsible and what is to be done about it?” he said.

He said that after answering those questions based on the evidence, the commission must consider measures to reduce the possibility of a similar tragedy occurring again.

“These are complex and difficult questions but they are questions which this commission has been mandated to answer and which given the collective expertise of the commissioners it has the competence to answer,” Smith said.

The commission’s Terms of Reference require it to conduct a “thorough, independent and impartial” public inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the capsizing and sinking of the Barima, the loss of lives, the response to the casualty and all matters reasonably connected with it.

Smith said the commission’s mandate is not confined to the final moments of the voyage but extends to the circumstances before, during and after the casualty.

The inquiry has six main areas of focus: the seaworthiness and safety of the vessel; passenger and cargo operations; the crew, including their qualifications, competence, conduct and decision-making; search, rescue and recovery; regulatory and institutional oversight; and human factors and emergency decision-making.

Smith said the commission will not rush to conclusions. “We do not intend to take short cuts, jump to conclusions or deliver a rushed report,” he noted.

In fact, he said the commission hopes to earn the public’s confidence by demonstrating that its process is fair, rigorous, comprehensive and independent, and that its conclusions are based on evidence that has been carefully evaluated and tested.

The commission aims to complete its work in about six months. It was initially given two months to complete the inquiry, but that timeframe is now almost over.

Smith said the commission will identify responsibility where the evidence establishes that a person, institution or system failed in its duties.

“If the evidence establishes that a person, institution or system failed in its duties, we will say so. Equally, if the evidence does not establish such a failure we will say so,” he said.

The commission is also required to make recommendations for reforms needed to strengthen maritime safety and prevent a recurrence of the tragedy.

This will include examining legislation and regulations that may require amendment or strengthening, institutional responsibilities that require clearer delineation and enforcement, policy changes, training and certification requirements, improvements to emergency response arrangements, and infrastructure and systems that may need to be put in place over time.

Source: NEW ROOMS SITE