Don’t Let MV Barima Inquiry Blame the ‘Small Man’

Dear Editor,

So, our PPP government have sent off what they describe as the management team for the unfortunate MV Barima ferry tragedy. Based on the track record of this government, this is a clever effort to shift the blame from the top brass, who we know call all the shots and make the decisions. I have no doubt that the President and cabinet will identify someone equipped with limited and contrived terms of reference, remember Mahdia. If Government really wants to get to the bottom of this matter that caused the lost of dozens of lives, they would identify, after consulting parliament, someone who does not appear to be a part of the government establishment.

As ordinary people are worrying and beginning to mourn the lost of their family and relatives, we wonder why we are being told that government needs no external help, as we boast that we have the capability to deal with the situation. Even before daylight, on Monday morning Government top brass already arrived at the decision that a “big wave” caused the MV Barima to capsize, no mention that the vessel may not have been sea-worthy for a number of reasons, made public by members of the opposition. No report from the Met office to confirm this alleged “big wave”, this is an age of advance technology with tracking devices everywhere.

As a youngster hearing stories from my grandparents, the likes of Captain Ashford, and Captain Thom, that coming around the Atlantic, if the seas got very rough with the strong waves, they will signal the engine room to put the engine astern to the full, and the engine to the port side also to the full, this would gently turn the vessel from facing west, to north, making it better able to adsorb waves. But dear citizens, at the end of the day, whatever inquiry is done, it must establish whether the MV Barima was sea-worthy, and put an end to this attempt to blame a tragic circumstance on the small man, allowing the big ones to continue their business, to the peril of the small man.

Yours truly,
Nigel Bacchus