Dear Editor,
The recent testimony given in the CoI into the MV Barima tragedy stating that the vessel was under maintenance and because of this the safety issues discovered were not escalated is no excuse for not placing the MV Barima on a short list for escalation, reinspection and clearance by the authorities before being allowed to sail again. The waterways of our country are like roadways and the government has the authority to determine who can use them, in what condition their vessel must be in to use them, and what license or authorization must be in place to be allowed to use them. There is no good reason for a responsible government Minister, Ministry and associated officials to relinquish full control of our waterways to the owner of any vessel. Even the Coast Guard must meet the required standards to use our waterways.
We have recently witnessed the detention of Members of Parliament for the unauthorized use of their vessels on our waterways and if those who should be of high standing within our society are not allowed to break the laws controlling vessels traversing our rivers then there is also no reason why any other individual should be allowed to do so. If the vessel does not pass an inspection it should be grounded until corrections are made and verified. Suriname has recently done this and we have also already learned that ignoring safety concerns from an inspection can lead to the death of innocent children as it did in the recent Mahdia school dorm tragedy. Now we are witnessing a repeat of significant neglect of responsibility that has led to an even greater tragedy. This is totally unacceptable and the officials involved including the responsible Minister must be held accountable for the poor management and resulting dereliction of duty. The safety of our citizens must come first and be placed above any other consideration!
With utmost concern,
Mr. Jamil Changlee
Chairman
The Cooperative Republicans of Guyana
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