A West Are’Are Community leader is urging the Government to table the Report on the MV Taimareho disaster in Parliament, saying relatives of those who perished in the tragedy want closure so they can move on.
Twenty-seven people, including women and children, died in the sea disaster when the West Are’Are Constituency ship was hit by rough seas between Malaita and Guadalcanal on April 13 this year.
A Marine Board of Inquiry has found, among other things, the Passenger/Cargo ship had sailed on the fateful night “without being cleared by the boarding officer and that the shipowner and master did not comply with the requirements of the safety certificate,” according to a published report.
The Board of the West Are’Are Shipping Community Company Ltd has since rejected the findings, claiming it was “pre-emptive and fell short of being comprehensive.”
“… it is regrettable that the findings as presented are pre-emptive. Appearing to be politically grounded and falling way short of being comprehensive,” the Board said in a recently published statement.
But Community leader, Charles Karaori, told Solomon Star yesterday there was no point arguing over technicalities.
“The fact of the matter is people have died. The fact of the matter is that relatives have lost loved ones. The fact of the matter is that relatives of those who died want closure on this matter so they could move on,” Mr. Karaori said.
“One way to do this is for the relevant Minister to table the full report in Parliament so that members of the public, particularly relatives of those who died, have access to the report,” Mr. Karaori said.
He said it would be unfair on the relatives if the government continues to drag its feet on the report.
“We want closure so we can move on,” Mr. Karaori said.
Solomon Star placed a number of calls to Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Infrastructure Development, Manasseh Maelanga, for comments yesterday but the calls went unanswered.
By Alfred Sasako
