HGP Nightly News – Former Public Infrastructure Minister David Patterson says ferries operated by the Transport and Harbours Department were once required to undergo an additional inspection before departure, under a system established to detect overloading, unticketed passengers, unrecorded cargo and other alleged illegal activity.
Patterson, during an exclusive interview with Nightly News, said the inspectorate was created during the former APNU+AFC government’s tenure after reports surfaced of workers allegedly accepting money to allow passengers and cargo aboard without being properly recorded.
There were also allegations involving the diversion and unauthorised sale of fuel belonging to the ferry service, he said.
According to Patterson, the initiative was developed under then junior Public Infrastructure Minister Annette Ferguson, with input from a maritime advisory body. Retired and experienced police officers were recruited to serve as inspectors, creating what he described as a second layer of accountability, separate from the employees responsible for loading and dispatching the vessels.
Before a ferry could leave, Patterson claimed, an inspector was expected to board and verify that passengers had tickets, the cargo had been weighed and recorded, and the vessel’s fuel was properly accounted for.
“They would randomly check passengers to ensure everybody had a ticket,” Patterson said.
Cargo was supposed to be weighed and tagged before loading, while inspectors also checked the amount of fuel placed aboard and what remained after a voyage. Patterson said the ferry could not sail until those checks were completed.
He maintained that the inspectorate remained operational until the coalition left office in 2020. Patterson alleged that the incoming PPP/C administration subsequently removed the inspectors after describing them as political appointees.
The issue has taken on greater significance following disclosures about the MV Barima’s final voyage. Authorities acknowledged that numerous rescued passengers did not appear on the official manifest, leaving investigators unable, at least initially, to determine exactly how many people had been aboard when the ferry capsized.
Questions have also been raised about the accuracy of the cargo records. Public Works Minister Juan Edghill ordered the cargo manifest to be rechecked after irregularities were found in the passenger list.
Patterson argued that the inspectorate was created to prevent those very failures. In his view, a functioning independent checkpoint should have detected passengers boarding without tickets, cargo being loaded without proper documentation or discrepancies between the records and what was physically aboard.
He alleged that changes made after 2020 weakened that structure and contributed to uncertainty over which agency had the authority, personnel and equipment to lead the response.
The government has promised a thorough investigation into the capsizing, including the vessel’s loading, passenger and cargo records, seaworthiness, crew conduct and emergency response. The management team responsible for loading and dispatching the ferry has also been removed from duty while investigators secure and examine the evidence.
The investigation will now have to determine what safeguards were operating at the Kingston wharf, whether they were followed and how dozens of people allegedly boarded a government ferry without appearing on its official manifest.
