The Government of Guyana will “leave no stone unturned” in determining the full circumstances surrounding the MV Barima disaster, President Dr Irfaan Ali said in a message read by Attorney General Anil Nandlall in the National Assembly on Monday.
The President on Sunday announced the members and mandate of an independent Commission of Inquiry into the tragedy.
The message, delivered by the Attorney General under Article 67(2) of the Constitution, confirmed that 76 people have been rescued and 73 bodies recovered since the vessel is believed to have capsized on the night of 18 July 2026 while en route from Georgetown to Port Kaituma. Some 30 passengers remain unaccounted for.
The Commission will be chaired by Justice Godfrey Phillip Smith of Belize, CARICOM’s High-Level Representative for Law and Criminal Justice. Its members include Polish naval architect Dr Andrzej Jasionowski, Maritime Authority of Jamaica surveyor Captain Hamada Fouda, Trinidad and Tobago admiralty lawyer Nyree Dawn Alfonso, and retired Rear Admiral Hayden Pritchard of Trinidad and Tobago.
According to the message, the Commission’s mandate includes establishing the full circumstances of the sinking, reviewing the adequacy of the search and rescue response, assessing compliance with maritime safety regulations, examining the vessel’s seaworthiness and maintenance history, and evaluating the conduct and qualifications of the vessel’s master and crew.
It will also scrutinise passenger management, including possible overcrowding, cargo stowage and the availability of life-saving equipment, and will recommend legislative and regulatory reforms to strengthen maritime safety.
“The truth must be established. The lessons must be learned. The reforms must be implemented. And where failures, negligence or wrongdoing are identified, accountability must follow,” Ali said.
The President reiterated that the Government’s HEART Initiative would provide humanitarian assistance to survivors and bereaved families, including psychosocial support, trauma counselling and spiritual guidance. He also confirmed that Belizean jurist Eamon Harrison Courtenay had been asked to help develop a mechanism for financial assistance, stressing that this assistance does not constitute compensation.
Ali thanked the Guyana Defence Force Coast Guard, the Guyana Police Force, the Guyana Fire Service, medical personnel, volunteers and fisherfolk, as well as the armed forces of French Guiana and the Governments of Trinidad and Tobago and Brazil, for their roles in the search, rescue and recovery operation, which he described as the largest in Guyana’s maritime history.
He urged citizens not to allow the tragedy to become “a source of division,” calling instead for unity and compassion in the aftermath of the disaster.
