– staying put despite mounting calls for resignation over MV Barima tragedy
The government yesterday gave no indication that Public Works Minister Juan Edghill would be removed from office in the face of mounting calls for his resignation over the deadly MV Barima tragedy, with Prime Minister Mark Phillips instead saying the minister would be “useful” both at government press conferences and an eventual Commission of Inquiry (CoI).
The issue was again put to Phillips at a press conference following renewed calls from opposition parties and the Amerindian Peoples Association (APA) for Edghill to step down, given that the Transport and Harbours Department (T&HD), which operates the MV Barima, falls under his ministerial portfolio.
Asked by Kiskadee Watch whether the government had anything to say about Edghill continuing to remain in office despite the significant loss of life and mounting demands for his resignation, Phillips defended the minister’s continued involvement.
“The Transport and Harbours Department falls under the Minister of Public Works. The MV Barima is operated by the Transport and Harbours Department. Minister Edghill will be useful at the press conference and he will also be useful at the Commission of Inquiry,” Phillips said at the press conference.
He gave no indication that the government was considering calls for Edghill to resign or be removed while investigations into the tragedy are conducted.
Edghill was subsequently asked directly whether, as the line minister, he felt any sense of responsibility for what occurred, but he declined to address that question, saying he would speak on the matter “at the appropriate time”.
“I have spoken. I said at the appropriate time I will speak to this matter. But I’m discharging a responsibility that by oath I took to fulfil. And at this time, this afternoon, I’m fulfilling that responsibility,” Edghill responded.
The exchanges came hours after members of the joint opposition intensified calls for Edghill’s resignation, arguing that his continued presence in office while questions remain over the management and oversight of the State-operated ferry system was untenable.
We Invest in Nationhood (WIN) Member of Parliament Dawn Hastings-Williams joined the APA and other opposition figures on Wednesday in calling for Edghill to go.
Leader of Forward Guyana Movement Amanza Walton-Desir was particularly critical of the government’s decision to keep Edghill publicly involved in briefings on the disaster. “I find it odious that given all of the calls for Juan Edghill’s resignation that the government is still callous enough to have him sitting at press conferences and in the face of Guyanese people,” Walton-Desir said, noting that, at a minimum, Edghill should not be publicly leading discussions surrounding the tragedy while questions about responsibility and oversight remain unresolved.
“By now, at a bare minimum, he should not even be publicly speaking on any of these matters, but we have to endure him, press conference after press conference trying to score political points about what they did and what they did not do,” she said, adding, “Now is not the time for that. He must sit down and he must be quiet.”
The pressure on Edghill centres on his ministerial responsibility for the T&HD and questions surrounding the operation, maintenance and oversight of the MV Barima before the vessel capsized.
The opposition and APA have argued that the tragedy requires accountability at the highest levels and have called for an independent investigation into the circumstances surrounding the disaster.
Questions have been raised about the vessel’s maintenance and seaworthiness, passenger and cargo controls, the accuracy of its manifest, enforcement of safety procedures and regulatory oversight.
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