HGP Nightly News – Political differences must give way to a shared demand for answers and reform following the MV Barima tragedy, Opposition Chief Whip and WIN parliamentarian Tabitha Sarabo-Halley has said.
Speaking at a joint opposition press conference, Sarabo-Halley acknowledged that the representatives seated together belonged to different parties and held competing views about how Guyana should be governed.
The scale of the disaster, however, required them to set those differences aside.
“This is one of those moments,” she said. “When lives are at stake, political differences must become secondary to our shared responsibility to the people of Guyana.”
Sarabo-Halley said the capsizing had devastated families and communities while leaving the entire country confronting questions about the safety and oversight of its maritime transportation system.
Expressions of sympathy were necessary, she said, but they could not be the government’s only response.
“This tragedy demands more than expressions of sympathy. It demands answers, it demands accountability and, above all, it demands action to ensure that no family ever has to endure such a tragedy again,” she declared.
According to Sarabo-Halley, those demands brought the joint opposition together despite its ideological and political divisions.
Other opposition representatives at the press conference raised concerns about the MV Barima’s maintenance, passenger and cargo records, regulatory oversight and the coordination of the search-and-recovery operation. They also questioned whether the government’s proposed Commission of Inquiry would be sufficiently independent.
Sarabo-Halley said Guyanese deserve confidence that the investigation will establish what happened, identify any failures and produce changes capable of preventing another disaster.
The reforms, she argued, must go beyond written recommendations. Every necessary measure should be implemented to protect passengers travelling along Guyana’s rivers, coastal routes and other waterways.
The government has promised a full and independent inquiry into the tragedy. Its proposed terms of reference and membership have not yet been publicly detailed.
Sarabo-Halley said the country now carries a responsibility to those who died aboard the ferry.
Their deaths must not be remembered only through mourning and condolences, she said. They should force a serious reconsideration of how state vessels are maintained, passengers are recorded, cargo is loaded and maritime emergencies are handled.
Above all, she argued, the tragedy must become a catalyst for lasting change, one capable of protecting the generations that will continue to depend on Guyana’s waterways.
