MV Barima ferry tragedy must be addressed at level of National Assembly -MP Campbell

Describing the MV Barima tragedy as the biggest disaster in independent Guyana’s history involving Guyanese, Parliamentary Lead for the APNU, Dr. Terrence Campbell today said the tragedy must be addressed at the level of the National Assembly.

In an interview on GoMoseley Radio this morning, Dr. Campbell said this type of incident and the path forward to avoid a recurrence must be addressed.

“I would like to a see a suspension of the standing orders for us to discuss this incident. There are a number of matters slated for discussion but none of that rises to the importance as a discussion on this tragedy, this is entirely for the domain of the National Assembly, we as a nation should be focused on this to ensure that where is no reoccurrence of this,” Dr. Campbell said.

The National Assembly is set to meet on Monday.

Mr. Campbell said the National Assembly must be able to properly function during this period to get to the bottom of the issue, ask probing questions and find a way to ensure that such a tragedy never happens again.

“I have been around long enough to know that mistakes are made sometimes catastrophic but we must have accountability and there should be no scapegoating. Accountability must go from top to bottom but also important, when there is a mistake, there must be learning and obfuscation moves away from learning, we can’t learn when we try to hide the facts, we can’t learn when we don’t engage with the facts. So, there is need for an open transparent discussion at the National Assembly on the path forward,” Campbell said.

He said even the Government’s planned investigation or Commission of Inquiry should be discussed at the level of the National Assembly, especially on issues that involve the composition of the Commission of Inquiry.

Campbell said the National Assembly would need to have a say in developing the Terms of Reference for the Commission, and all other steps that should be taken going forward.

He said the Opposition parties have questions that need to be answered, explaining that the tragedy has exposed the country’s incapacity to deal with incidents like the ferry disaster, pointing to the lack of resources to mount a serious search and rescue operation.

“There are serious questions to be asked here and it must be asked in the National Assembly. In the National Assembly, we don’t always get the truth but we have sometimes we come closer to the truth from government officials that the media or anyone can get and so discussion of this tragedy lies properly in the National Assembly. Campbell noted.

Mr. Campbell said the APNU has developed a plan of action to hold the Government accountable and he is hoping that the other Opposition parties will offer their own input in the efforts to hold the Government accountable for the disaster.

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