HGP Nightly News – The MV Barima’s detained captain and loading superintendent must not be made scapegoats while possible failures by senior officials, regulators and other decision-makers remain unexamined, APNU parliamentarian Dr. Dexter Todd has warned.
Todd said the Guyana Police Force was legally entitled to investigate possible criminal conduct arising from the disaster and stressed that the opposition was not seeking to obstruct that process.
He argued, however, that a tragedy of this complexity could not be properly investigated through ordinary police work alone.
“These persons should not be made the scapegoats,” Todd said.
The ferry’s captain and a Transport and Harbours Department loading superintendent were detained as investigators examined who authorised the passengers and cargo aboard the vessel. Neither had been charged when their detention was announced.
Public Works Minister Juan Edghill said the police would collect statements before submitting the file to the Director of Public Prosecutions for legal advice.
Todd questioned whether the police possess all the specialist expertise needed to determine why an ageing passenger-and-cargo ferry capsized at sea.
“I do not believe that the police have the competent people to investigate such a tragedy,” he said.
His concern, he explained, was the technical scope of the exercise. A credible investigation could require maritime engineers, naval architects, weather specialists and accident-reconstruction experts.
Todd therefore backed the opposition’s call for an independent Commission of Inquiry capable of examining responsibility beyond those immediately involved in loading and operating the ferry.
He said the inquiry should follow the decision-making chain through the Transport and Harbours Department, MARAD, the Ministry of Public Works and any other institution responsible for maintaining, certifying or deploying the vessel.
At its conclusion, the commission should state where liability lies and recommend criminal, civil, disciplinary or administrative action where warranted, Todd argued.
Any criminal charge would still require the DPP to determine whether the police evidence meets the legal standard for prosecution.
Todd warned that pressure for rapid accountability must not result in individuals being brought before the courts without sufficient evidence.
The investigation, he said, cannot be limited to inspecting the vessel’s engines, hull and other mechanical components.
Experts must also analyse the weather and sea conditions, including wind speed, wave height, currents and the force exerted on the ferry.
Survivors reportedly described a large wave striking or destabilising the vessel. Government officials have maintained that the MV Barima was not overloaded.
Todd said both assertions must be tested against technical evidence.
If the ferry was operating within its permitted limits, investigators must still establish why it lost stability. That would involve examining the location and distribution of its cargo, its centre of gravity, structural condition and response to the reported wave.
A reconstruction of its final moments should draw on survivor accounts, weather records, loading documents, vessel data and evidence recovered from the wreck, he said.
Todd argued that such a broad investigation could not be completed within the initial 72-hour detention period ordinarily available to police.
Investigators may seek additional time from the court, but he urged them, and the DPP, to avoid recommending charges before the necessary technical evidence is available.
No evidence has yet established criminal responsibility for the capsizing.
For Todd, accountability must not begin and end with the people who were physically aboard the ferry or present at the wharf. It must also reach those who determined how the vessel was maintained, certified, regulated and kept in service.
