Attorney General hints at additional charges in probe of MV Barima tragedy

Attorney General Anil Nandlall has hinted that more persons could face charges over the MV Barima ferry tragedy, announcing that all the investigative arms of the state have been fully activated.

So far, the Captain of the vessel along with a crew member and the Goods Superintendent at Transport and Harbours Department have been slapped with 72 murder charges over the deaths in the tragedy.

On the issue of the calls for the subject Ministers for the maritime sector to be removed from office, the Attorney General said the Commission of Inquiry will determine culpability.

“Everything has stages, those who are in charge of the boat, they have been dealt with, more maybe charged for all you know, after the Commission of Inquiry or even before. As the Terms of Reference say, the Commission of Inquiry cannot usurp the functional responsibilities of the state and state agencies,” Nandlall reminded.

The Attorney General said although the Commission of Inquiry in itself does not have powers to prosecute, its recommendations will play a key role in ensuring accountability.

“There is a tragedy, we are determining the causes of the tragedy, the state has many arms and many arms and many different apparatuses that are at work. The DPP and police have already been activated and they have done what they have done. The Commission of Inquiry is doing another component of it, different agencies of government have been engaged to perform different forms of support,” Nandlall noted.

The AG again criticized the Parliamentary Opposition over its calls for accountability, stating that the Opposition is politicizing a tragedy.

He rubbished the Opposition’s complaints about the tender process to salvage the vessel, saying that the government wants to ensure that there is transparency in the process.

He disclosed that the salvaging of the vessel can cost the state around US$10 million.

“It will cost somewhere between US$8-US$10M, a tender is out to salvage the boat, and one would have thought that the Opposition got what they wanted because they were saying that the government does not want to raise the boat because it wishes to hide something. So they got their wishes and the government decided that it will raise the boat and the government has gone out to a tender process to invite bids, now they have a problem with the, they are critical of that,” Nandlall said.

The Opposition has pointed to the length of time that the tender process takes as the boat remains on the river bed and bodies are still to be recovered. Opposition Member Ganesh Mahipaul has said the Government is no stranger to soul sourcing of contracts, and the case of the salvaging of the ferry ought to be treated as a very urgent matter.

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