Guyana is in mourning. One of the most horrendous events in our history is playing out in front of our eyes. The sinking of the MV Barima is a national disaster of unprecedented magnitude. Dozens of families have lost loved ones at sea. The experience for those who survived and those who lost their lives must have been harrowing. While we might try to imagine, the experience of those who were in the MV Barima that night and in the following hours must have been unthinkable, unimaginable, and excruciating.
Ruminations express profound sympathy to the families and friends of those who perished in the MV Barima incident. Our prayers continue to ask for the families and friends to be given the strength to deal with their losses and their grief. We express our gratitude to all those who have been working around the clock to provide rescue and recovery support in the sea. In particular, we recognise the heroic work of the local fishermen.
This is not a tragedy that time will heal. We will feel the pain for a long time. We will forever remember this time in our history. It is a tragedy that we must ensure never happens again.
The MV Barima horrors are enough to force us as a nation to mourn together in a powerful collective grief. The tragedy is big enough to strip away everyday divisions and, even if temporarily, shift the national preoccupation and focus toward mutual aid, empathy, and national unity. Not only is this necessary to provide support for the victims, but the communal lament provides a vital outlet to process shock and prevent long-term trauma. Whether this is what Guyana did or is doing, whether this is what we choose, is a question we will not answer in this column. We will leave that judgement for another time. For those who embraced this approach, we made our country stronger.
In every nation, an unprecedented event like the present MV Barima incident will test our resilience, will tempt us to scream out for revenge and to cast blame. This is natural. But the MV Barima horrors must create national unity, if only for the moment. It is a time for putting aside our differences, no matter how big or trivial, socio-economic or political. We need swift and effective action. It is imperative that we avoid chaotic responses.
There will be plenty of opportunities for accountability, for placing blame, and for scoring political points. But the present time must be for complete and absolute focus on looking for survivors, recovering the deceased and providing support to the survivors and their families.
Guyana has had lessons on how to respond to national disasters. In 2005, a one-in-a-thousand-year flood affected more than 400,000 persons on the East Coast Demerara and Georgetown. The 2005 Great Floods in Guyana triggered a massive wave of national unity, with citizens, civil society, and the Government cooperating across racial and political lines to provide emergency assistance to the victims of floods in Guyana.
The first night’s rainfall exceeded 10 inches. After just four days of rainfall, Guyana had experienced more than 59 inches of deluge. Guyana had not seen such intensity of rain since 1888, more than 100 years before the January 2005 storms. On the first day, after an unprecedented storm caused massive flooding, President Bharrat Jagdeo brought the nation together. Political opponents got together, and a national effort started. The rainfall continued for more than two weeks, and the flood was everywhere. Lives were threatened. For more than a month after, people worked together to ensure everyone who needed help obtained that help. For a brief moment, Guyana was united.
The 2005 flood occurred in the midst of extreme political division and with an ongoing terrorism campaign by criminals who called themselves freedom fighters. Those criminal gangs had the political support and might have been centrally directed by political opponents of the then Government. But for a brief period, the criminals paused the mayhem and allowed the Government and the people to work in solidarity to overcome the massive challenge and threats.
The MV Barima tragedy is a different kind and, in some ways, an even more horrendous disaster. It is the kind of disaster that gave us no notice, that happened at a place and under circumstances that made response difficult. Yet, this does not mean that we cannot duplicate the solidarity and unity that, even if reluctantly, we were able to craft in 2005.
We are now on Day Four of the MV Barima horrors. We are hopeful that our people, our political parties, and civil society can find the strength to work in unity and cohesion to provide the optimum support we can to ensure every person is rescued and every victim is recovered as soon as possible to ensure families receive the appropriate support.
There will come a time when answers must be provided, when responsibility must be embraced. Political parties by nature look for faults, for things to cast blame on. That time will come. Now is not the time. Now is the time for Guyana to be strong, for our people to stand as one – Guyana Strong.