Transcript
Jamie Tahana: Well, we don't know, and that's one of the most controversial aspects.
The Commission of Inquiry's report has only been released in a hard copy for viewing at the president's office or the national library in the capital, Tarawa.
We also understand there's some strict criteria around reading it: You're only given an allotted time, you're not allowed to make copies, take pictures or notes. The opposition has criticised these as ridiculous.
RNZ Pacific has asked for a copy of the report, and at least a summary of what it says: we don't know what its findings were, what its recommendations are, even.
All that was released was a three-line statement from the government hailing it as a step forward in transparency.
But that's unlikely to be enough for families on Nonouti.
Dominic Godfrey: The prospect of this report even being released to the public was a little uncertain for a while, wasn't it?
JT: In November, the government said the report would not be made public because of the police inquiry, which enraged both family representatives and opposition MPs.
Families of the victims have been severely critical of the government response, with some contemplating a lawsuit against the government.
DG: Beyond the report, what do we know about the MV Butiraoi and the disaster?
JT: It left the island of Nonouti for Tarawa on 18 January 2018, carrying 88 people - many of them school children heading to the capital for the school term - a journey that should have taken two days. It was six days before the ship was reported missing.
More than a week after it left Nonouti, seven survivors were spotted by a New Zealand Air Force Orion plane drifting in the searing sun of the central Pacific. They had survived with no food or water. No other survivors were found after an exhaustive search.
The 17-metre wooden catamaran was meant to carry only 69 people and is understood to have been overloaded with cargo as well. Days before it left Nonouti, it had undergone repairs for a damaged propeller after it had become wedged on a reef.
It had no form of emergency beacon when it broke apart not far from Nonouti, as well as limited safety gear, only one life raft and two dinghies, and was criticised by people from the island as unseaworthy.
