‘Why the Secrecy?’: MP Amanza Walton Slams Clandestine MV Barima Salvage Following Diver’s Death, Warns Criminal Trial Evidence Compromised

By Marvin Cato | HGP Nightly News|

GEORGETOWN, GUYANA — Member of Parliament and leader of the Forward Guyana Movement, attorney-at-law Amanza Walton, has voiced deep concern over the clandestine commencement of offshore operations to salvage the sunken ferry MV Barima. She questioned why the Government maintained complete secrecy regarding the operation until the fatal drowning of a commercial salvage diver brought the unannounced works to light.

For more than one hundred days following the catastrophic July 18, 2026 maritime sinking—which claimed over 70 lives off the Essequibo coast—grieving relatives, survivors, and civil society groups had repeatedly staged demonstrations outside the Office of the President demanding that the state refloat the submerged vessel to recover trapped remains and retrieve forensic evidence.

While the administration eventually awarded a contract to local engineering firm BK International to execute the salvage, Walton highlighted that the state never publicly announced an operational timeline or issued statutory safety advisories. The Guyanese public only learned that recovery efforts had quietly begun after Luis Martinez, a 66-year-old Venezuelan diver attached to a subcontractor, lost his life during an evening dive at the wreck site.

Regulatory Breaches: No Notice to Mariners, No Receiver of Wreck Consent

Walton, an experienced maritime attorney, outlined a series of apparent statutory violations governing salvage, maritime navigation, and public accountability:

• Absence of MARAD Navigational Warnings: The lawmaker pointed out that the Maritime Administration Department (MARAD) is legally mandated to issue a public Notice to Mariners to alert commercial sea traffic, trawlers, and artisanal fishermen of dangerous salvage activities affecting safety at sea. No such notice was posted on MARAD’s official portal.
• Receiver of Wreck Authorisation: Under the Merchant Shipping Act, no entity is legally permitted to disturb, raise, or break up a sunken vessel in Guyanese waters without the explicit written permission of the Receiver of Wreck. Walton noted that proceeding without this authorization constitutes a criminal offense.
• Failure to Inform Families and Survivors: Despite continuous picketing and emotional vigils by surviving kin, authorities failed to notify affected families or community leaders that heavy machinery had been moved to the site.

“A diver participating in the salvaging operations in the raising of the wreck died… And it is now apparent to me that if he had not died, we would not have known that operations to raise the wreck had commenced.” — MP Amanza Walton

Compromising Core Evidence in the Capital Murder Trial

Beyond the lack of regulatory transparency, Walton warned that the covert salvage operation directly threatens the administration of criminal justice:

• Central Physical Evidence: The MV Barima represents the primary piece of physical evidence in the state’s ongoing capital murder trial against three senior employees of the Transport and Harbours Department (T&HD)—Captain Kevin Price, Chief Mate Rondell Dwayne Roberts, and Goods Superintendent Delon Granderson.
• Constitutional Rights of the Accused: Article 144 of the Constitution of Guyana guarantees every accused person a fair hearing and adequate facilities to examine witness material and prepare a defense. Walton revealed that defense counsel representing the three accused officers were neither consulted nor notified that the central subject matter of their trial was being disturbed.
• Irreversible Evidential Spoliation: The MP cautioned that disturbing the hull, cargo hold, and mechanical compartments in secrecy—without independent judicial supervisors, naval surveyors, or defense observers present—compromises the chain of custody. Any alteration, unintended structural damage, or lost artifacts cannot be reconstructed, preventing the High Court from ascertaining the unvarnished technical truth behind the disaster.

“Whatever one thinks of the charges against the three accused, our Constitution is clear: every person charged with a crime is entitled to a fair hearing… The MV Barima is the central physical evidence in that trial. Its hull, and everything inside it, will tell the court what happened. That evidence is now being disturbed in secret, with no one for the defence present to see what is done to it.”

Formal Demands Put to Minister Deodat Indar

Directly confronting the political directorate, MP Walton called on the Minister within the Ministry of Public Works with responsibility for Public Utilities and Aviation, Deodat Indar, to provide public answers to critical questions:

1. Exact Start Date: On what specific date and time did the physical operation to raise the MV Barima officially commence?
2. Statutory Permit Details: Where is the written authorization granted by the Receiver of Wreck, and what specific technical and environmental conditions did it establish?
3. Notification Protocols: Exactly who within the state apparatus was formally notified of the salvage operation, when were they informed, and was the ongoing presidential Commission of Inquiry (COI) formally notified prior to work commencing?
4. Current Status of the Hull: What physical, forensic, or cutting interventions have been executed on the submerged hull structure to date?

As public scrutiny intensifies over the government’s handling of the maritime tragedy, civil society groups and legal observers are calling for all salvage operations to be halted until transparent oversight protocols and independent forensic observers are deployed to the Atlantic site.