Seven Weeks After MV Barima Disaster, Families Still Wait for Answers

By Mark DaCosta-Seven weeks after the MV Barima plunged to the seabed off Guyana’s Essequibo coast, the nation is still waiting for answers, while grieving families remain trapped in a nightmare of uncertainty. In a statement issued on September 11, the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) said 73 deaths have been confirmed and approximately 30 people remain unaccounted for following the July 18 disaster involving the state-owned ferry, a vessel built in 1939 that was carrying an estimated 179 passengers and crew when it capsized and sank about seven miles from shore en route to Port Kaituma.

These are not statistics to be buried in government statements or reduced to political talking points—they are mothers, fathers, children and loved ones whose families are still waiting for answers, accountability and the most basic measure of closure: knowing what happened to those they lost.

That denial was made plain on the 8th of September, when grieving relatives once again gathered outside the Office of the President, pleading for the recovery of the vessel and for straightforward answers. In a country that now earns billions from oil, citizens should never be forced to stage street protests simply to learn what became of their missing loved ones.