Predictably, what appears to be a campaign for scapegoats in the horrific loss of life aboard the MV Barima on July 18 is well under way. Yesterday, two crew members aboard the ferry and an employee of the Transport and Harbours Department (T&HD) were taken to court and slapped with 73 charges of the murder – the number of bodies retrieved following the capsizing. Another 30 persons are believed to be missing which means that this charge could be possibly upgraded.
Those before the court yesterday were Kevin Price, called ‘KP’, the 40-year-old captain of the vessel from Melanie Damishana, East Coast Demerara; Rondell Dwayne Roberts, the 42-year-old Chief Mate of Grove Public Road, East Bank Demerara and Delon Granderson, a 33-year-old Goods Superintendent of Fellowship, West Coast Demerara. Mr Granderson was apparently responsible for the loading of goods aboard the ferry and the question would be whether such loading exceeded capacity.
A vigorous debate has already begun as to whether there can be evidence to substantiate charge of 73 murders against these men. Given the public interest, the Director of Public Prosecutions has since voluntarily entered the fray with critical support for the narrative that has emerged from the government. The charges would however seem to suggest that the initial government line that a rogue wave had knocked the ferry over is no longer applicable, just one of the inconsistencies in the government’s rendering of what transpired.
Time will tell now whether the process before the magistrate’s court will yield sufficient evidence for a committal to a High Court trial. What, however, the decision to charge appears intended to accomplish is to relieve the escalating public and political pressure on the government and the two subject ministers: Public Works Minister Juan Edghill and Public Utilities and Aviation Minister Deodat Indar for accountability. For nearly six years both Ministers Edghill and Indar have been fully in charge of the portfolios in question and there was never a suggestion that they had surrendered control of responsibility for agencies like the T&HD and MARAD.
The charging of the trio yesterday also closely mirrors the script for another dastardly occurrence that the previous PPP/C government needed to be held accountable for: the horrific and heartbreaking fiery deaths of 20 children in a dormitory at Mahdia that was not fit for safe occupation and where no adequate or efficient firefighting existed.
If the Mahdia script is followed closely, the various actors must be preparing to embark on that other unconscionable act of trying to limit the state’s financial exposure to dozens of families and their dependents. There already appears to be a sleight of hand exercise in train to entomb the MV Barima in a watery grave so that there is no risk that it will become a permanent, visible indictment of misgovernance and maladministration.
All of that aside for the moment, the average person in the street could well ask on what basis did the police investigate this trio and diligently present a case to the DPP for ruling? The police force has not been an exponent of such efficiency. Who lodged a complaint with the police about this trio? It is unlikely that the police could have acted on their own about the mens rea of the accused to have warranted murder charges. That had to have come from the T&HD itself or even higher.
The point being that if a case can be made out against this trio for 73 murders then equally compelling cases could be presented indicting both Ministers Edghill and Indar for having failed over six years to ensure that gross misconduct of this type did not occur.
The July 22nd editorial in Kiskadee Watch drew to the public’s notice the fact that under Section 18 of the Shipping Casualties (Investigation and Prevention) Act, Chapter 49:07, Inspectors of Shipping have sweeping powers. They can board vessels, inspect machinery and equipment, examine certificates, prevent overloaded vessels from sailing and detain any vessel deemed unfit for a voyage. They are also empowered to order the removal of excess cargo or passengers if safety is deemed to be compromised.
The legislation goes even further by making it an offence to overload or overcrowd vessels in a manner that exposes passengers to danger. Inspectors, customs officers and police have authority to seize and detain such vessels until the breach is remedied. So whose responsibility was it to police the Act and to ensure these failures did not occur? Who bears the ultimate responsibility when the Act is observed in the breach? President Ali probably believes that his administration can ride out this storm before it has to address the questions about his farm. Given the gravity of the catastrophe on July 18, the demand for the departure of Messrs Edghill and Indar will not go away easily.
Yesterday, the Leader of the Opposition, Azruddin Mohamed volunteered the financing and mobilization to salvage the MV Barima. Give the need of families to retrieve the bodies of their loved ones and the vital questions that still have to be answered one cannot contemplate a circumstance where the government would refuse such an offer unless the state itself was prepared to finance and oversee the undertaking of the salvaging. The refloating of the MV Barima is crucial to the investigation that is ahead.
And speaking of the Commission of Inquiry, the government is still to clarify whether one of the intended commissioners has affiliations here that would rule them out of participation. The failure to provide an answer to date is troubling.
Even if the terms of reference had been a bipartisan effort, the proposed chairing of the Commission by Belizean Senior Counsel Godfrey P. Smith does not inspire confidence given his previous association with a Commission of Inquiry here that failed to address an important part of its mandate.
Dozens of families are living through daily unspeakable pain and loss as a result of the capsizing of this 87-year-old vessel and heightened by the publicly known failures to press into service modern ferries and to commission key infrastructure which would have relieved the MV Barima of the treacherous journey at sea. While a Commission of Inquiry could provide important answers the auguries are not good. The affected communities will no doubt continue their campaign for real accountability from President Ali and all those who must be accountable for the capsizing of the MV Barima.
Discussion