A mother, Norma Forbes, lost her son Dwayne, when the MV Barima sank on July 18 last. Dwayne Forbes was employed by Transport and Harbours Department. Nearly one month after the incident Norma Forbes received a visit from the T&HD Advisory Council. Under any other circumstances this would have been a visit to be appreciated. It would have shown that the now dead man’s employers really cared. But the mother of the now dead man published a photograph of the extent of consolation from T&HD.
From my vantage point I want to believe that the visitors were trying to cheer up the woman. They wanted to bring a smile to her face. In life what is intended is not always achieved. People have been killed for a joke. In other circumstances friends have gone their separate ways.
T&HD Advisory Council presented to the woman a bouquet, a packet of Bigelow tea, a box containing 20 Nestle chocolates, a tin of roasted whole cashews, a slab of Cadbury Dairy Milk Chocolate, a tin of some other condiment and a sympathy card. At least the card appears to be one proffering sympathy. The total cost of everything could not have been more than $10,000. This was either intended as a joke or an attempt to insult the woman. One can read all manner of things into this.
Normally, when such visits are made the government-sponsored team would travel with a photographer. This photographer would record the presentation, if for no other reason, than to gain some political advantage. No photograph of the presentation has seen the light of day. Ms. Forbes also failed to disclose if there was a cheque.
It was similarly insulting when President Irfaan Ali offered some family members of the victims $300,000 to bury their dead. A proper funeral would cost no less than $500,000 and that is just for the funeral parlour.
It was similarly insulting when the government travelled to Mahdia in the wake of the fire that destroyed the dormitory.
Armed with a pen, a cheque book and some enforcers, the government met with the parents and relatives of the victims to offer them $5 million (about US$25,000) for each child who died. There is no need to comment on the ensuing Commission of Inquiry into the Mahdia fire. One thing stands out, though. The Commissioners found that the David Granger administration was partly responsible. The Granger administration was in office from 2015 to 2020. The fire occurred in 2023.
This time around there are reports that senior government officials not only dragged the captain of the MV Barima, Kevin Price, from his home on that fateful day (it is said that others had refused to undertake the assignment) but also insisted on placing very heavy equipment of the doomed vessel. Price was indeed the captain of the vessel. He had sailed it back from the North West three weeks earlier. The vessel then spent those three weeks in drydocks.
The initial press conference is still fresh in people’s memory. Prime Minister Brig Mark Phillips, and Minister Juan Edghill swore by the manifest in their possession. Of course, they recanted soon after when they found that nearly three dozen people plucked from the Atlantic were not on the manifest. They swore that the vessel was not overloaded. The survivors testified openly that the opposite was the case. The pair has gone silent since then. They were quick to shout that they had found traces of marijuana and alcohol in the blood of the two charged crew members.
It is strange that another rescued crew member, Daryl Henry, has not been charged. Was he approached by the officials?
There is no word on when the Irfaan Ali-appointed Commission of Inquiry will begin sitting. What is known is that the secretary is the same person who sat on the Mahdia Commission of Inquiry.
People close to Price are reporting that the 40-year-old man is still crying. He remains in prison. It is said that he still has nightmares. He jumps out of his sleep screaming. One can only imagine that the images of that fateful day are still etched in his mind. One of the lawyers told a press conference that those charged are being counselled. If that is the case, the healing process is very slow.
On Friday, an Amerindian Community leader described the horrible conditions on the MV Barima while it operated between the city and Port Kaituma. He spoke of people sleeping in the passageway leading to the urinals.
People slept on the floor even as water flowed across the floor of the vessel. He himself slept on the hatch cover during the almost 24-hour journey from the city.
There were other inconveniences. People seeking to travel had to wait for hours while the vessel was being loaded. Some of the people, all of them poor, had no choice. Sometimes the wait was as long as eight hours—from three in the afternoon to almost midnight. And the community leader asked people to imagine the toll on children.
That vessel, as everyone knows, has now gone to the bottom of the Atlantic. And the President’s response to the calls to send Juan Edghill and Deodat Indar on leave is that the nation must wait on the findings of the Commission of Inquiry.
