‘They Come for Money’: Walton-Desir Blasts Govt’s $55B Budget Push After MV Barima Tragedy

Forward Guyana Movement (FGM) Leader and lone Member of Parliament Amanza Walton-Desir on Monday criticised the Government for placing its spending agenda ahead of accountability, saying the administration returned to Parliament to seek approval for an additional $54.9 billion while families continued to grieve the victims of the MV Barima disaster. The Government used its parliamentary majority to pass the bill.

As the National Assembly reconvened to consider Supplementary Financial Paper No. 1 of 2026, Walton-Desir said the Government’s decision to proceed with routine financial business, just days after one of Guyana’s worst maritime tragedies, reflected an administration determined to carry on as though nothing had happened.

“They come for money. They have all the agencies sitting in here because for them it’s business as usual,” Walton-Desir declared outside the Arthur Chung Conference Centre, where opposition MPs staged a protest before the sitting.