HGP Nightly News – Ten days after the deadline for companies interested in raising the MV Barima expired, APNU parliamentarian Ganesh Mahipaul says grieving families are still waiting for the government to reveal when the vessel will finally be brought from the seabed.
Mahipaul is demanding a detailed update on the salvage procurement process, including how many companies submitted expressions of interest and how many met the required technical standards.
He also wants the government to disclose whether a shortlist has been completed, whether a preferred company has been identified and when the physical recovery operation is expected to begin.
“What is happening with the salvaging of the MV Barima?” Mahipaul asked. “The families are waiting. Guyana is waiting.”
President Irfaan Ali previously disclosed that the government had received at least ten expressions of interest.
According to Ali, authorities were evaluating the submissions and shortlisting companies that satisfied the required criteria. Those firms would then be invited to submit prices for the operation.
That process indicates that the initial expressions of interest were intended to identify capable companies rather than select the final contractor.
However, the government has not publicly announced how many applicants qualified, when financial proposals will be requested or the target date for awarding a contract.
Mahipaul argued that the absence of a detailed update was unacceptable given the scale of the tragedy and the number of families still seeking answers.
He recalled the government’s highly visible response immediately after the vessel sank, including visits to Charity, attendance at funerals and repeated assurances that every possible effort would be made.
The parliamentarian questioned whether that initial activity would now be followed by sustained action or whether attention would decline as the disaster moved out of the daily headlines.
“The dead deserve dignity. The families deserve closure. The country deserves to know,” Mahipaul said.
Relatives of people who remain unaccounted for have repeatedly called for the wreck to be raised, hoping that additional remains could be recovered and returned for burial.
The vessel could also contain physical evidence relevant to the Commission of Inquiry and criminal and maritime investigations.
Government officials initially warned that raising the MV Barima would be technically difficult because of its condition, strong currents, poor underwater visibility and the risks posed to divers.
The administration later invited expressions of interest from qualified salvage companies following sustained calls from relatives, opposition parties and civil-society organisations.
A complex maritime salvage operation requires technical assessments, specialised equipment, safety planning and price evaluation. Ten days without a contract award does not, by itself, establish that the process has been abandoned or improperly delayed.
The continuing absence of a published timetable, however, leaves families unable to determine how long the procurement and recovery could take.
Mahipaul urged the government to disclose the status of the evaluation and establish clear deadlines for the remaining stages.
He maintained that the MV Barima tragedy must not be allowed to disappear from public attention while the wreck—and possibly the remains of missing passengers, stays beneath the water.
