Guyana to await inquiry before deciding on compensation for MV Barima tragedy

What this source establishes

Caribbean National Weekly reports that the Guyana government will continue covering funeral and burial expenses and immediate assistance for families, but will decide on compensation only after an independent Commission of Inquiry reports. Prime Minister Mark Phillips told a Wednesday news conference that current assistance is not deemed compensation but the government's responsibility in times like this, and said the commission would be mounted as early as possible once rescue and recovery closes, with its report guiding whether compensation is warranted. Search and recovery continues with 19 vessels and three aircraft, and technical teams assessing the wreck.

Key claims

• The Guyana government says it will continue covering funeral and burial expenses and providing immediate assistance to families affected by the sinking of the MV Barima.
• Any decision on compensation will be made only after an independent Commission of Inquiry completes its investigation.
• Prime Minister Mark Phillips said Wednesday that the government's immediate priority is supporting grieving families and completing ongoing rescue and recovery efforts.
• Phillips emphasized that the financial assistance currently being provided should not be viewed as compensation.
• The government will establish an independent Commission of Inquiry as soon as rescue and recovery operations conclude.
• The commission's findings and recommendations will determine whether compensation is warranted and how it should be handled.
• The government has deployed 19 vessels and three aircraft following the sinking of the MV Barima.
• The Guyana Defence Force, the Coast Guard and the Maritime Administration Department have mobilized smaller vessels to search inland waterways for the remaining missing passengers.
• Technical teams continue assessing the wreck in preparation for its recovery.

Quotations

• “The focus now is not on compensation. The focus is on recovering bodies, financing the burial and funeral rites, and providing whatever assistance the families need now”— Mark Phillips, Prime Minister of Guyana, Brigadier (Ret'd)
• “That is not deemed compensation. That is the government's responsibility in times like this to assist families”— Mark Phillips, Prime Minister of Guyana, Brigadier (Ret'd)
• “As we close off the rescue and recovery operation, the government intends to have a commission of inquiry mounted as early as possible”— Mark Phillips, Prime Minister of Guyana, Brigadier (Ret'd)
• “After the commission of inquiry, then the issues of compensation will be determined because it will be guided by the commission of inquiry, the report, and the recommendations”— Mark Phillips, Prime Minister of Guyana, Brigadier (Ret'd)

Actors named

• Mark Phillips, Prime Minister of Guyana, Brigadier (Ret'd), setting out the compensation position
• Government of Guyana, covering funeral and burial expenses
• Independent Commission of Inquiry, to be established once rescue and recovery conclude
• Guyana Defence Force, participant in search and recovery
• Coast Guard, participant in search and recovery
• Maritime Administration Department, participant in search and recovery

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