Families of 3 missing MV Barima passengers want vessel salvaged, encouraged by Pres. Ali's commitment

What this source establishes

The first report that the President has committed to attempting a salvage, and it moves the state's position materially: every prior statement in this corpus either left the decision with the families or had the Prime Minister saying the wreck was likely to remain where it is. Relatives of three missing Berbicians say they were told at a meeting on 29 July that a lift could take eight to ten weeks. It is single-source, reaches the archive through families' accounts of a private meeting, and no government release confirms either the commitment or the timeframe. Recorded as a development in the state's position and not as a decision, because nothing published by the state says so.

Key claims

• **This changes the state's recorded position on the wreck.** [SINGLE SOURCE] The report states that **President Ali has committed to attempting to salvage the vessel**, and that families were told at a meeting with him on Wednesday 29 July that the process could take **eight to ten weeks**. Every prior statement in this corpus put the decision with the families or left the wreck "likely to remain there as is".
• Three missing Berbicians are named by their relatives: **Raymond Sumra** of Islington, Greater New Amsterdam; **Rawle Frank** of No. 42 Village, West Coast Berbice; and **Antoine "Tony" Harcourt**, originally of Leitchfield Village, West Coast Berbice.
• Puran Grant, Raymond Sumra's uncle, on what the President told them: "What he had told me [is] he [will] try his best to bring it up."
• Esther Frank, Rawle Frank's mother: "I pray that things work out with what he said", and "Try the best. Anything and get help, assistance, bring up that boat."
• Brenda Elizabeth Harcourt, 81, grandmother of Antoine Harcourt, asked whether she believes he is alive: "Well, I don't think so. As far as I understand, I don't think he's alive." And: "Whether dead or alive… I would like to see him. If they would bring the body home for burial, you know."
• [UNRESOLVED] No government release in this corpus confirms the commitment or the eight-to-ten-week estimate. It reaches this archive through relatives' accounts of a private meeting, reported by one outlet.

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