'One Guyana' put to the test as Parliament yet to meet on MV Barima tragedy

What this source establishes

In her second letter to Kaieteur News, Janette Bulkan compares Guyana's institutional response with Suriname's response to the 2018 murders of 17 fishermen. She records that the Surinamese Parliament convened on 10 May 2018 and unanimously passed a comprehensive motion on investigation, compensation and offshore safety, with Guyana's National Assembly following unanimously a day later. No other source in this corpus reports that a new body, the Association for Democracy and Human Rights (Guyana) Inc., announced its existence by using the deaths to attack the Leader of the Opposition. Her assertion that no days of national mourning had been announced contradicts the 21 July proclamation reported elsewhere.

Figures cited in this source

over 100 Guyanese dead in the MV Barima

Key claims

• Bulkan quotes the Kaieteur News editorial of 21 July on 'the darkness that hangs over Guyana'.
• Bulkan contrasts the response with Suriname's after the April-May 2018 murders of 17 fishermen (16 Guyanese) at sea, where 12 bodies were never recovered, 11 of them Guyanese.
• The Surinamese Parliament was convened on 10 May 2018 and unanimously passed a comprehensive motion; a similar Opposition-introduced motion was unanimously supported in Guyana's National Assembly one day later.
• Bulkan says the Association for Democracy and Human Rights (Guyana) Inc. announced its existence by using the occasion of the deaths to attack the Leader of the Opposition.
• Bulkan writes that as at 26 July Parliament had yet to be convened and 'No days of national mourning have been announced' - a claim in direct tension with the 21 July proclamation of three days of mourning reported by other outlets.
• Bulkan argues the leader promoting 'One Guyana' needs to demonstrate leadership concretely.

Quotations

• “Guyanese have become so accustomed to hypocrisies from the highest levels that they are now numbed beyond feeling.”— Kaieteur News editorial of 21 July, quoted by Janette Bulkan
• “the horrific tragedy off the mouth of the Pomeroon River has been the occasion for divisive rather than unifying actions”— Janette Bulkan, letter writer
• “By that yardstick, our Guyanese nation is yet to be born. The leader promoting 'One Guyana' needs to demonstrate his leadership concretely.”— Janette Bulkan, letter writer

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