Dear Editor,

THE families affected by the MV Barima tragedy deserve answers, dignity and the opportunity to speak for themselves. Any attempt to turn their engagement with the Commission of Inquiry into a platform for party politics deserves firm condemnation.

There is already a disturbing parliamentary record. Reporting on the July 27 sitting documented, opposition MPs banging tables, chanting and closing in around speakers addressing the disaster.

The sitting was briefly suspended twice, and parliamentary security personnel were called to provide a buffer near the prime minister. This was an appalling way to conduct public business concerning a national tragedy.

APNU and WIN cannot reasonably expect their declarations of concern to go unquestioned after such conduct. Demanding accountability carries a responsibility to listen, examine information and use opportunities to challenge it.

The families’ meeting with commissioners must centre on the people who suffered. Relatives may choose their own support and representation, but no politician should assume ownership of their grief or speak over them.

In my view, the parliamentary spectacle displayed a desperate preference for confrontation over serious engagement. That behaviour must not follow the families into the inquiry process; their suffering is not campaign material, and their search for answers must never become another party performance.

Yours faithfully,

Ayinde Sampson