…for Barima victims

Your Eyewitness is still stunned at the enormity of the tragedy he’s had to absorb since he got the news of the MV Barima capsizing in the Atlantic on the way from GT to Port Kaituma late Saturday night. Don’t expect any humour today, Dear Readers – light or otherwise. While, unfortunately, we haven’t heard of any additional survivors to the 69 we were told about – we gotta keep hope alive. The immediate priority is to save every life we possibly can – and support the families of those affected.
Beyond that, however, the MV Barima tragedy should become a turning point for maritime safety in Guyana – rather than another disaster that fades after a CoI report. We must insist that this be implemented. Authorities are investigating possible irregularities involving the passenger manifest, crew conduct, and enforcement of safety procedures and already, the captain and the first engineer have been arrested after testing positive for marijuana.
Even if it weren’t for rescued passengers insisting that the ferry was quite overloaded with people and cargo – the fact that only 35 of the 69 rescued were on the passenger list confirms this beyond a shadow of doubt. One passenger claimed there were at least 200 persons aboard – almost double the 116 originally claimed!! Your Eyewitness thinks we must treat false passenger manifests as a serious criminal offence!! An inaccurate manifest ain’t just a paperwork violation – it directly hampers rescue operations because authorities can’t know how many people are actually missing!! If officials or employees knowingly facilitated off-the-book boarding, they should face criminal prosecution!
The Government must conduct a serious review of our ferry fleet and make some tough decisions on seaworthiness of some ferries!! The Barima is 87 years old – and had to be approaching the end of its life. There was a report a few months ago that bids had been received for some serious rehabilitating of the Barima – and also the MV Ma Lisha that had been acquired only two years ago from India as part of the government’s acceleration of its fleet renewal programme!! Is the Ma Lisha in dry dock right now and this is why the Barima was doing all the heavy ferrying?? Based on the Barima’s age and the extensive list of repairs on the bid document, shouldn’t repairing the Barima have taken priority??
As the investigation into the Barima tragedy proceeds, we must ratchet up support for the victims’ families – including those not on the manifest but identified after a comprehensive programme soliciting information from relatives and friends who’ve missed them. There should be help obtaining official documentation and a single point of contact for information. Beyond compensation, Government should establish a family assistance centre providing counselling and financial guidance.

…for Spain
There are football finals, and then there are football disappearances. To your Eyewitness who supported them, Argentina turned up for the pre-match photographs, dutifully stood through the national anthem, and then apparently caught the first flight back to Buenos Aires. For the next 90 minutes, Spain seemed to be playing an unusually well-organised training session!!
This was supposed to be the clash of the tournament – South American flair against Spanish precision, passion against possession, history against history!! Instead, Spain monopolised not just the ball but the occasion. Argentina’s famed midfield looked like tourists admiring Spanish architecture from a respectful distance, while their attack appeared to have lost the address of the penalty area!
One expected fireworks, but what arrived was a damp sparkler. Spain deserved every accolade. They pressed relentlessly, controlled the tempo, and played with the confidence of a side convinced the trophy already had their name engraved on it!!
Argentina, by contrast, including Messi, never found the intensity that had carried them through the knockout rounds!!

…traduced in Gaza
It’s going on three years since the war in Gaza started! So, it doesn’t take a crystal ball to see that the Israelis ain’t gonna stop their killing frenzy until the Palestinians are driven into the sea!!

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