Forward Guyana Movement (FGM) Leader and lone Member of Parliament Amanza Walton-Desir on Monday criticised the Government for placing its spending agenda ahead of accountability, saying the administration returned to Parliament to seek approval for an additional $54.9 billion while families continued to grieve the victims of the MV Barima disaster. The Government used its parliamentary majority to pass the bill.
As the National Assembly reconvened to consider Supplementary Financial Paper No. 1 of 2026, Walton-Desir said the Government’s decision to proceed with routine financial business, just days after one of Guyana’s worst maritime tragedies, reflected an administration determined to carry on as though nothing had happened.
“They come for money. They have all the agencies sitting in here because for them it’s business as usual,” Walton-Desir declared outside the Arthur Chung Conference Centre, where opposition MPs staged a protest before the sitting.
“Not a ‘we are sorry… we take responsibility.’ A hundred and something Guyanese lives [were in the MV Barima] and then they wanna go for money. We’re not having it! We are not having it!”
The Government returned to Parliament seeking approval for an additional $54.9 billion in expenditure barely five months after securing passage of its record $1.558 trillion National Budget for 2026.
For Walton-Desir, the request symbolised a Government more intent on accessing billions in additional public funds than confronting the questions surrounding the July 18 sinking of the MV Barima.
She said Guyanese should not accept what she described as an attempt to resume “business as usual” while dozens of families are still mourning.
“And the people of Guyana, y’all need to come out. Because what these people are showing you is despite how much we all are shouting, they’re prepared to walk over you and do business as usual. So y’all better get out here and stand up to this government.”
Walton-Desir’s remarks came as opposition parliamentarians turned Monday’s sitting into a demonstration over the Government’s handling of the maritime disaster. MPs from across the opposition protested outside Parliament before entering the chamber, where they continued to press for accountability, insisting that the country could not simply move on from the tragedy.
The capsizing of the 87-year-old passenger and cargo ferry MV Barima on July 18 off Guyana’s northwest coast claimed at least 73 lives, while 76 survivors have been officially verified. Authorities estimate that approximately 179 people were on board when the vessel sank while sailing from Georgetown to Port Kaituma, leaving several passengers still unaccounted for.
The disaster has triggered mounting public anger over allegations that the vessel should never have been allowed to sail, with questions continuing over its seaworthiness, inspection history, regulatory oversight and the Government’s response to the tragedy. Families of the victims, survivors, opposition parties and civil society organisations have called for a fully independent investigation and the release of all records relating to the vessel’s maintenance and certification.
Given those circumstances, Walton-Desir argued that the Government had failed to acknowledge the scale of the national tragedy before returning to Parliament to seek billions more in spending.
Her criticism underscored the widening political fallout from the MV Barima disaster, which has transformed from a maritime tragedy into a growing test of public confidence in the Government’s accountability, transparency and stewardship of public safety.
