HGP Nightly News – Financial assistance being developed for MV Barima survivors and bereaved families should not be regarded as compensation, President Irfaan Ali has said, describing it instead as an expression of national solidarity.
Ali made the distinction while announcing the HEART Initiative, a national programme intended to provide sustained material, emotional and spiritual assistance to those affected by the disaster.
“These measures embody a commitment that every survivor will be supported, every bereaved family will be treated with dignity,” the President said in an address to the nation on Monday.
The initiative’s name represents Hope, Empathy, Aid, Resilience and Trust.
Ali said it reflected his government’s commitment to remain with survivors and families long after the immediate emergency and intense public attention had passed.
“I promised in the early hours of that tragedy that my government will stand with the survivors and the families of the victims—not until the headlines fade, but throughout the long, tender journey of healing,” he said.
Religious and civil-society representatives from across Guyana will oversee the initiative under the leadership of Carl Stuart.
Belizean attorney and former government minister Eamon Harrison Courtenay has also been engaged to help develop the framework for financial assistance.
The government has not yet disclosed how much money will be available, who will qualify, how payments will be calculated or when distribution will begin.
It has also not explained whether the support will take the form of one-time payments or continuing assistance based on each family’s circumstances.
Ali’s insistence that the money is not compensation carries legal significance.
A support payment made as humanitarian relief is different from compensation for death, injury, lost property or harm caused by negligence. The latter may depend on findings about legal responsibility that have not yet been made.
The government should therefore clarify whether accepting assistance through HEART will affect a family’s ability to seek compensation or pursue other legal remedies later.
No survivor or bereaved relative should be left to infer the answer from political assurances. The programme’s written rules should state clearly that recipients are not surrendering legal rights unless they knowingly agree to do so after receiving independent advice.
The initiative is expected to coordinate practical help for families who lost relatives, possessions, goods and income when the ferry capsized.
It will also provide emotional and spiritual support as communities cope with grief, uncertainty and the trauma experienced by survivors.
Opposition representatives and Indigenous leaders have called for psychologists, grief counsellors and psychosocial teams to be deployed throughout Port Kaituma, Mabaruma and other affected communities.
They have argued that support must continue after the recovery operation ends, particularly for children, survivors, relatives, fishermen and volunteers exposed to traumatic scenes.
The HEART Initiative was announced one day after Ali named a five-member international Commission of Inquiry into the disaster.
That commission will examine the MV Barima’s maintenance, seaworthiness, loading, passenger records, regulatory oversight and the search-and-recovery response.
It will also determine whether negligence, misconduct, dereliction of duty or institutional failures contributed to the tragedy.
While the inquiry addresses causes and accountability, HEART is intended to respond to immediate and long-term human needs.
