HGP Nightly News – The government’s inability to determine exactly how many passengers boarded the MV Barima points to serious breaches of maritime procedures, WIN parliamentarian Dawn Hastings-Williams has argued.
Speaking at a joint opposition press conference, Hastings-Williams said inaccurate passenger information had compounded the tragedy, leaving families and the wider public without a definitive account of who was aboard.
“Up to this time, we have not known exactly how many passengers boarded the MV Barima due to inaccurate information that we continue to receive from the authorities,” she said.
Authorities acknowledged after the capsizing that numerous survivors did not appear on the original passenger manifest. The discrepancy made it difficult to determine the ferry’s true occupancy and how many people remained unaccounted for.
Hastings-Williams said the failure to properly register passengers raised serious concerns about whether established maritime rules were followed before the vessel departed.
“This is a clear indication that the maritime rules were breached,” she contended.
Her statement represents an allegation based on the manifest discrepancies. The promised investigation must determine which specific laws or procedures were violated, who was responsible and whether the failures involved negligence or deliberate misconduct.
Government officials have already conceded that the passenger-accounting system failed.
Prime Minister Brigadier (Ret’d) Mark Phillips described the manifest problem as “a breakdown in the system” and said it would be examined by the Commission of Inquiry. Public Works Minister Juan Edghill also characterised the presence of unlisted passengers as potentially criminal conduct.
Hastings-Williams placed particular emphasis on the number of children lost in the disaster.
Based on figures available to her on Tuesday, she said the recovered victims included 11 girls and four boys, a total of 15 children.
“Fifteen of our babies, our children, lost their lives,” she said.
The official recovery and identification figures may change as operations continue, but the loss already recorded has placed an especially heavy burden on families in Region One.
Speaking from her perspective as an Indigenous woman, Hastings-Williams said the disaster must not be treated as a distant regional event or allowed to fade from national attention.
“All lives matter, irrespective of ethnicity, where people live or their economic status,” she said.
The Barima-Waini Region is home to several ethnic communities, including a large Indigenous population. Hastings-Williams called on toshaos attending the National Toshaos Council Conference in Georgetown to demand justice and accountability for the affected families.
She also urged Indigenous leaders to press for long-term psychological and trauma support, not only immediate assistance, for survivors and bereaved relatives.
The effects of the disaster will persist after the search and recovery operation ends, she warned. Families who lost relatives, survivors who escaped the vessel and volunteers who encountered bodies at sea may require sustained professional care.
Hastings-Williams accused the government of repeatedly marginalising Indigenous communities and failing to treat their concerns with sufficient urgency.
“As Indigenous peoples, we are frustrated and tired of being treated as if we do not matter,” she said. “We will no longer accept being pushed to the margins of our own land.”
The government has promised a full and independent inquiry into the capsizing, including the passenger and cargo records, vessel operations, regulatory oversight and emergency response.
For Hastings-Williams, accountability must begin with the most basic unanswered question: how could a state-operated ferry leave port without authorities knowing exactly who was aboard?
