{"id":31110,"date":"2026-07-27T18:51:21","date_gmt":"2026-07-27T22:51:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ncnguyana.com\/2023\/?p=31110"},"modified":"2026-07-27T18:51:21","modified_gmt":"2026-07-27T22:51:21","slug":"president-ali-urges-unity-vows-accountability-over-mv-barima-tragedy-in-message-to-national-assembly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ncnguyana.com\/2023\/president-ali-urges-unity-vows-accountability-over-mv-barima-tragedy-in-message-to-national-assembly\/","title":{"rendered":"President Ali urges unity, vows accountability over MV Barima tragedy in message to National Assembly"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"fb-root\"><\/div>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">President Dr. Irfaan Ali has called for national unity while reaffirming the Government\u2019s commitment to supporting victims\u2019 families and ensuring accountability following the MV Barima tragedy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">His message, read in the National Assembly on Monday by Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs Anil Nandlall under Article 67(2) of the Constitution, described the sinking as a national tragedy that had \u201cshaken our republic to its very foundation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The President said the Government immediately launched Guyana\u2019s largest-ever maritime search, rescue and recovery operation, noting that 76 people were rescued while 73 bodies had been recovered, with efforts continuing to locate those still missing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He thanked the security services, healthcare workers, volunteers, fisherfolk, private sector and international partners for their support during the response.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/ncnguyana.com\/2023\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-07-27-at-6.45.46-PM-1024x683.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-31111\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ncnguyana.com\/2023\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-07-27-at-6.45.46-PM-1024x683.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/ncnguyana.com\/2023\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-07-27-at-6.45.46-PM-300x200.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/ncnguyana.com\/2023\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-07-27-at-6.45.46-PM-768x512.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/ncnguyana.com\/2023\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-07-27-at-6.45.46-PM-1536x1024.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/ncnguyana.com\/2023\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-07-27-at-6.45.46-PM-2048x1365.jpeg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">President Ali also highlighted the Government\u2019s HEART Initiative, which will provide psychological, social and humanitarian support to survivors and bereaved families. He added that Caribbean jurist Eamon Courtenay has been invited to help develop the framework for financial assistance to affected families.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Reaffirming the Government\u2019s commitment to uncovering the truth, the President said the International Commission of Inquiry will investigate every aspect of the disaster, including its causes, the vessel\u2019s operation, emergency response and any acts of negligence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe truth must be established. The lessons must be learned. The reforms must be implemented. And where failures, negligence or wrongdoing are identified, accountability must follow,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The President concluded by urging Guyanese to reject division and instead allow the tragedy to strengthen national solidarity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cToday, Guyana grieves. Tomorrow, Guyana will heal and together, united in faith, compassion and resolve, Guyana will rise,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">NCN News<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>President Dr. Irfaan Ali has called for national unity while reaffirming the Government\u2019s commitment to supporting victims\u2019 families and ensuring accountability following the MV Barima tragedy. His message, read in&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":31112,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[350],"tags":[488,370,1151,642,412,405,640],"class_list":["post-31110","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-488","tag-guyana","tag-mv-barima","tag-national-assembly","tag-ncn-guyana","tag-ncn-news","tag-parliament"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ncnguyana.com\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31110","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ncnguyana.com\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ncnguyana.com\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ncnguyana.com\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ncnguyana.com\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31110"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ncnguyana.com\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31110\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31113,"href":"https:\/\/ncnguyana.com\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31110\/revisions\/31113"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ncnguyana.com\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31112"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ncnguyana.com\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31110"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ncnguyana.com\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31110"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ncnguyana.com\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31110"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}