APNU demands compensation for families of MV Barima tragedy

What this source establishes

Kaieteur News reports the compensation dispute in its first concrete form, and is the only domestic report in this corpus to put figures on what families were offered. APNU says some families received G$300,000 for funeral expenses, insufficient in its view to cover a burial, and demands a minimum of G$1 million per victim. No other source in this corpus records that 15 attorneys have volunteered to represent families or the party's concern at the Guyana Bar Association's silence on legal aid. APNU invokes the Mahdia dorm fire, where it says families signed compensation packages without independent legal advice.

Figures cited in this source

72 bodies recovered, 76 rescued including children; total aboard still unclear

Key claims

• APNU demanded fair and adequate compensation for survivors and families of those who died on 18 July.
• APNU called for the removal of Minister of Public Works Juan Edghill and Minister of Public Utilities and Aviation Deodat Indar pending an independent probe.
• MP Saiku Andrews said no less than $1M should be provided to each victim's family for funeral expenses.
• Some families were offered a mere $300,000 for funeral expenses, which would not even cover the burial.
• APNU said in some instances the sole breadwinner of families perished.
• APNU noted concern that no pronouncement was made by the Guyana Bar Association to provide legal aid to survivors.
• 15 attorneys have expressed willingness to represent the families.
• APNU invoked the Mahdia dorms fire, where families were encouraged to sign off on compensation packages without independent legal advice.
• APNU called for a comprehensive safety review of all existing ferries operating in Guyana.
• Andrews said: 'This is a systemic failure and at some point in time we have to be able to examine the entire system and how it functions.'

Quotations

• “It starts with an assistance for the funeral expenses and I believe that there is no less than $1M that should abound to each (victim) to take care of those expenses.”— Saiku Andrews, MP, APNU
• “This is a systemic failure and at some point in time we have to be able to examine the entire system and how it functions...it's not only about the MV Barima”— Saiku Andrews, MP, APNU
• “I believe in another few days you are going to see a number of legal teams which will be presented and assisting the families.”— Todd, APNU spokesperson

This page is a research summary prepared for comment and review. It is not the article. Copyright in the original remains with Kaieteur News; the full text is held only in the private research corpus from which this archive was compiled. Follow the link above to read it at the source.