Georgetown’s Lighthouse Department operates from a single room on the top floor of the Marriott Hotel, lighthouse attendant David Chisholm told the Commission of Inquiry into the sinking of the MV Barima yesterday.
His testimony prompted commissioners to seek clarification on whether he was referring to the historic red-and-white lighthouse on Water Street or a separate facility.
Chisholm, who joined the Maritime Administration Department (MARAD) in March 2025, said two attendants worked each shift at the Marriott office. The room was equipped with computers for data entry, a VHF radio and a telephone, while an antenna was installed atop the hotel.
He said the department was already operating from the Marriott when he joined MARAD and he could not say whether the old lighthouse remained functional. Asked whether there was a navigational beacon at the Marriott facility, he said he did not know.
MARAD boathouse attendant Ahnola Francis, speaking to Kiskadee Watch after giving evidence, said she had previously worked at the Lighthouse Department for five years, all of that time at its Marriott office.
Francis said she had never worked inside the original lighthouse on Water Street. According to her, the tower was no longer functioning and visits were no longer possible.
The testimony comes against the background of concerns raised before the Marriott was built that its height would obstruct the lighthouse’s navigational light.
In 2008, Stabroek News reported that an environmental and social impact assessment had recommended installing a beacon at the hotel’s highest point to address the obstruction. The assessment recommended that the replacement beacon have greater visibility and a wider range.
Then Works Minister Robeson Benn told Stabroek News in 2013 that an oscillating navigational light would be installed atop the Marriott to compensate for the obstruction. He said the lighthouse would retain its light and continue its functions, including tracking vessels and maintaining radio communications with ships.
Mariner Captain Rouchie Adams subsequently questioned whether two nearby lights with different characteristics could confuse mariners and whether international maritime bodies would be notified of the changes.
In January 2024, the Department of Public Information reported that the Georgetown Lighthouse, a national monument, no longer served as the guiding beacon for vessels entering and leaving the Demerara Channel.
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