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President Dr Irfaan Ali has assured that while there will be justice for the victims of the MV Barima tragedy, the focus now is on supporting survivors and those families who have either lost loved ones or are still anxiously awaiting news of missing relatives.
“There will come a time for questions, for truth to rise, for justice to speak, but today is not that day. Today, we mourn. Today, we offer comfort. Today we stand with the broken and say with our every breath, ‘You are not alone’,” the Head of State declared.
He was addressing mourners during a prayer service held on Wednesday evening following a candlelight vigil/walk at Charity on the Essequibo Coast, Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam), where survivors and family members gathered in hopes of receiving news of their loved ones still unaccounted for following Saturday night’s capsizing of the MV Barima.
So far, 76 persons have been rescued, 72 bodies recovered, and at least 31 still unaccounted for after the ferry capsized off the Essequibo Coast.
Recovered bodies are taken to Charity for identification and storage. Already, more than 20 of the 65 positively identified bodies have been handed over to family members.
The Government is covering transportation and funeral expenses for the families of these victims, who, according to the Guyanese leader, are enduring unbearable loss. But even though this tragedy has inflicted immortal wounds on the nation, the head of state reassured that the entire country will continue to rally and support the survivors as well as those who have lost loved ones.
“This wound is deep and terrible. It has shaken us to the core, but it shall not break us… Your grief is our nation’s grief. Your tears are our nation’s tears. We cannot remove your pain or restore what was taken from you. But I want you to know this with absolute certainty: we stand with you. Your Government stands with you. Your fellow citizens stand with you. Your country stands with you. As long as there is breath within this nation, we shall carry you in our prayers, in our compassion, and in our unwavering commitment to your healing. You are not alone,” the president declared.
The prayer service at Charity comes as Guyana observes a three-day national mourning in remembrance of the victims of the MV Barima tragedy, which commenced on Wednesday with a national interfaith prayer service held at the Kingston Seawall in Georgetown.
It continued on Thursday with a ‘Night of Reflection and Prayer’ at Port Kaituma and then a similar event scheduled for tonight at Mabaruma – both in Region One (Barima-Waini).
Currently, the search and rescue operation continues off the Essequibo Coast, where the sunken MV Barima remains on the seabed. Technical teams are actively trying to reposition the vessel to a floating state in order to bring it closer to shore so that divers can gain better access inside.
Local divers have been supported by regional experts from the French Guiana army, Brazilian navy, and Trinidad and Tobago coast guard, which have also deployed maritime assets to assist with the recovery operations.
The MV Barima departed the Georgetown stelling at about 15:00h on Saturday on its scheduled voyage to Port Kaituma, Region One, carrying 179 persons, including 18 crew members and cargo. According to officials, the vessel encountered rough sea conditions off the Essequibo Coast near the mouth of the Pomeroon River late that night.
Survivors have recalled that the ferry began tilting to one side before capsizing, throwing passengers into the water in less than a minute. A distress signal transmitted at approximately 23:01h was received by aviation authorities, triggering a large-scale multi-agency emergency response that continues.
Addressing concerns raised in the aftermath of the disaster, blood samples were taken from the captain and crew members for testing. Authorities released the results showing positive tests for cannabis and subsequently arrested the captain and at least two crew members. Another official from the Transport and Harbours Department (THD), which manages ferry services, was also detained as part of the police investigation.
Subsequently, the Government, in its initial probe into the issue, uncovered that more people were aboard the vessel than had been recorded on the original passenger manifest. That information, along with the manifest, was immediately made public and has since led to the suspension of several managers at the THD.
Meanwhile, the Guyana Government has also announced that an independent Commission of Inquiry (CoI) would be launched to determine the circumstances that led to the sinking of the MV Barima. That investigation is expected to examine all relevant factors before any further actions are taken.

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Dear Editor,
The devastating capsizing of the MV Barima passenger ferry has brought profound sorrow to the people of Guyana and to families desperately awaiting news of their loved ones. With lives lost, passengers still unaccounted for and rescue and recovery operations continuing, this is not a time for politics or empty regional slogans. It is a time for action, compassion and solidarity.
Trinidad and Tobago’s Government deserves recognition for responding quickly and practically to Guyana’s request for assistance. Our Defence Force deployed an aircraft, a Coast Guard vessel and 27 personnel, including seven divers, to support the difficult search and recovery operations.
This was more than a ceremonial expression of sympathy. It represented trained personnel entering a dangerous environment, specialised divers assisting in challenging waters, aircraft supporting aerial searches and a Coast Guard vessel carrying resources directly to the affected area.
When tragedy strikes, condolences are important, but capabilities can save lives, recover the missing and help grieving families obtain some measure of closure.
For many years, Caribbean leaders have spoken about regional cooperation, shared responsibility and the bonds that unite our people. However, regional unity must be demonstrated when one country is facing a disaster that overwhelms its immediate resources.
Trinidad and Tobago’s response shows that CARICOM is not merely a collection of meetings, communiqués and official photographs. It can also become a practical network through which neighbouring countries support one another in moments of urgent need.
Guyana is more than a regional partner. Thousands of Trinidad and Tobago citizens have Guyanese relatives, friends, colleagues and business connections. Our histories, cultures and economies have become increasingly intertwined.
When Guyanese families suffer, many families in Trinidad and Tobago feel that pain as well. It was therefore appropriate for the Government to act with urgency and humanity.
The deployment also reminds us of the importance of maintaining a capable and properly resourced Defence Force. Citizens sometimes see military vessels, aircraft, divers and specialised training only through the lens of national security.
Yet these resources are equally important for humanitarian assistance, disaster response, maritime emergencies and regional rescue operations.
The men and women participating in this mission represent Trinidad and Tobago with courage and professionalism. Their work may not always receive the public attention given to politicians, but their willingness to leave home and assist another nation during one of its darkest moments deserves the country’s respect.
There will eventually be investigations into the cause of this tragedy, the condition of the vessel, the accuracy of the passenger manifest and whether maritime safety procedures were followed.
Those investigations are necessary, and anyone responsible for negligence must be held accountable.
For now, however, the immediate priority must remain supporting the search, assisting survivors and bringing closure to grieving families.
The Government of Trinidad and Tobago has shown that regional leadership is not measured only by speeches. It is measured by whether we are prepared to deploy our people, equipment and expertise when our neighbours need us most.
In Guyana’s hour of grief, Trinidad and Tobago did not simply say that we stood with them. We sent help.
That is what Caribbean unity looks like.

Yours sincerely,
Zahir Khan
Trinidad and Tobago

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It has become apparent, and recently more glaring, that we have become increasingly irresponsible in disposing of our trash, which eventually ends up in our drains and waterways.
The voluminous build-up of garbage in communities across the country speaks of a society that is yet to be trained in proper waste disposal. We are guilty of indiscriminate dumping of garbage.
A casual drive around many communities would reveal the shocking truth: in many areas, there are mounds of garbage strewn across the reserves and roadways. In an attempt to conceal the act of indiscriminate dumping, some perpetrators dispose of their trash at night and go so far as to travel to neighbouring communities and villages to commit the act.
How sad that we have become so callously abusive of our environment. We only think of Mother Nature when calamity or disaster strikes. Every human being should go the extra mile in caring for our one and only Mother Earth.
Many of the smaller communities do not have regular garbage disposal services, and most private collectors service these areas at least once a week. Does this then excuse the action of residents taking their waste elsewhere? There are so many other options for solid waste disposal.
In most developed and developing countries like Guyana, with increasing population, prosperity, and urbanisation, it remains a major challenge for municipalities to collect, recycle, treat, and dispose of increasing quantities of solid waste, especially in a changing climate. Everyone is aware of the issues we face with solid waste management.
Isn’t it high time we took part in making our society garbage-free? Communities cannot rely solely on our Government to clean up the environment. A concerted effort is highly needed.
A cornerstone of sustainable development is the establishment of affordable, effective, and truly sustainable waste management practices. We should, therefore, make it a daily habit to help control the floods and other problems caused by the mountains of garbage we throw away. What is lacking is discipline in disposing of our garbage properly.
It was reported that the carbon dioxide (CO₂) levels in the Earth’s atmosphere have surged past an important threshold and may not dip below it for “many generations”. The 400 parts per million (ppm) benchmark was broken globally for the first time in recorded history in 2015.
According to a World Meteorological Organization (WMO) report, 2016 was the first full year to exceed the mark. The high levels can be partially attributed to a strong El Niño event, while it was reported that human emissions have remained fairly static between 2014 and 2015.
What is alarming is that experts say the last time CO₂ was above 400 ppm was three to five million years ago!
It is time to consider the reality facing the world today, and it is even more crucial to take stock of the individual responsibility for this global situation. It is highly improbable that citizens do not yet know the impacts of climate change and are unaware of current challenges across the globe regarding access to potable water, arable lands, and, in some severe cases, access to food.
The time has long since passed for affirmative action, and the hour of reckoning is upon us; the Earth itself is sending a message, and it behoves us to change our attitudes and behaviours. It is time we see the importance of becoming waste-wise and take the pledge to make a concerted effort to recycle more and reduce the waste sent to the landfill. If not today, when would be the perfect time for action?
All citizens should pledge to Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle when possible and Rejoice in the wonderful creation we’ve been given.

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By Clement J Rohee

Following the MV Barima disaster at the treacherous confluence off the Essequibo Coast and the Atlantic Ocean, many moving and touching videos have been shared on social media platforms. Let me state from the outset that I view this tragedy from a human-interest perspective; all things being equal, it is the human factor that is primordial.
Amongst the many videos posted on social media, there was one particular video that attracted my attention. It was an emotional and very touching video showing a mother weeping uncontrollably for her child. In between tears, the woman managed to say that she had just bought some new clothes for her daughter, but now because of the tragedy she will not be able to wear them.
The woman was emotionally upset and, justifiably so. In the video, someone appeared to be consoling her in the midst of her grief and the motherly anger she was expressing because she had lost her child. It is a loss she is struggling to cope with and which she cannot reverse nor change. But it was not just this one mother; there are others. In one particular case, there is a mother who lost seven children in that tragedy.
The MV Barima tragedy was a tragedy of a different kind. It was not one that left persons lying dead on the road, where blood poured from their head and torso, or where their skin was shredded and charred, with splinters of bones covered with dirt.
In this tragedy, people screamed for help while deep in the treacherous water up to their necks; many probably woke up in a state of shock and panic. Others must have died by asphyxiation, some by drowning in their sleep while the ill-fated vessel carrying the dead sank to the bottom of the ocean.
The mournful voices, the incessant weeping of affected families and friends in the current situation where parents, wives, husbands and children weep for the dead, hope for the missing and console survivors – it is the pain a grieving nation must face and lower its head with a sense of duty, empathy and thoughtfulness.
The question that will prove hard to sink in is how to process one’s loss and by what means can the transition be made from bereavement or from survival – how to be strong in the wake of this tragedy to make lives lost live – and to make their deaths count.
The answers to these questions should be viewed through the prism of service and acts of kindness aimed at empowering the survivor and the bereaved to surmount rather than to be heavily burdened; to find ways to frame their misfortune in a more personally understandable way that serves to protect them from being overwhelmed by trauma, isolation and indifference because of their frightening and painful experience.
There may be survivors who, perhaps, may have nightmares about the horrific experience, while there may be others who, when they wake up every morning, they know that they are here and not there where the death boat lay. Then comes the pain were they ever to travel that ill-fated route again to pass by that painfully dark and ugly place where the boat went down, drowning many and conjuring up memories of those lost at sea, thus compounding their daily suffering.
At another level lies the challenge of fulfilling public commitments made at an individual, community, sectoral and societal level; overcoming institutional lethargy; and the search for scapegoats and to lash out at them or to invent escapist solutions.
Sections of the media should allow parents, mothers and entire families to grieve and weep privately. Their grief and sorrow, as well as individual stories by survivors, should not be transformed into a public spectacle. Nor should publicising their stories compound their trauma. And they should never get weary of sections of the media who turn their pain into breaking news and headline embellishments.
The greatest fear of the bereaved is that their loved ones will be forgotten. To prevent the slow erasure and closure of their unfinished goals that their premature deaths prohibited, the nation is duty-bound to pay homage and respect and to fulfil whatever may have been their goals and aspirations as well as their wishes for improvement in the lives of every Guyanese man, woman and child.

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The Human Services and Social Security Ministry has mobilised social workers and psychologists across several regions to provide ongoing psychosocial support to survivors and families affected by the MV Barima tragedy, describing the initiative as a long-term response to the national disaster.
In a social media post on Thursday, the subject Minister, Dr Vindhya Persaud, said the intervention will continue to the end of the year, with services evolving based on the needs of those affected.
“This is something we envisage that will go on till perhaps the end of the year and will evolve as we move along based on the needs that will be coming up from these interventions. So, every person who would have had someone on board the MV Barima, we would have been receiving that list either through the manifest or we would have been receiving the list from persons who are on ground in Region Two dealing with survivors and dealing with persons who are recovering their loved ones, their bodies, and we would have been compiling a list and, based on that, assigning our social workers to those families.”
She added that social workers have already been deployed across multiple regions to ensure affected families receive support regardless of where they reside.
“At the call, these persons would have been working in Region Four and in Regions One and Two, and as we got news of persons from other regions like Three, Five, and Six, and, we’ve also learned, Seven, we are geared for any other region that will be involved.”
Meanwhile, the Minister said the Ministry is intensifying its psychosocial response in Region One, where the majority of those affected are either survivors or families who lost loved ones in the MV Barima tragedy. She explained that additional social workers have been deployed to the region, while more officers and psychologists continue to arrive to strengthen support services on the ground.
She further noted that in Region Two, social workers from the Human Services, Health and Education Ministries have been providing hands-on assistance to grieving families, including accompanying relatives to identify the bodies of their loved ones.
According to Dr Persaud, social workers met families upon arrival, remain with them throughout the identification process, and continue providing support during the funeral period and beyond.
Special attention, she said, is also being given to children affected by the tragedy. In collaboration with Education Minister Sonia Parag, the Ministry is working to train education personnel in trauma-focused grief counselling to support not only children who lost family members but also those mourning classmates and friends. She said the aim is to ensure every affected child receives the emotional care and counselling needed in the aftermath of the disaster.
However, she emphasised that the Ministry’s support will not end with counselling sessions or the identification process. She said social workers will continue accompanying grieving families before, during and after funeral services to ensure they receive consistent emotional support throughout their bereavement.
“Outside of that, we are making sure that when my Cabinet colleagues will be going to all of the funerals, the social workers are there with them for those families, and they have that presence; they have that support. It is also before funerals, at wakes, and then it will be after the funerals. For example, at Umana Yana, there was an elderly woman who lost one of her loved ones, and we didn’t just send her home by herself because she wasn’t going in to identify a body. We sent a social worker with her. That’s the fact that our country is devastated.”
The Ministry has said it will continue monitoring the needs of survivors and bereaved families as recovery efforts progress, with psychosocial support remaining a key component of the government’s response to the tragedy.
The tragedy has devastated families across several regions, with many relatives visibly distraught as they received news that their loved ones were among those aboard the MV Barima. Emotional scenes unfolded at hospitals, ports and communities as survivors reunited with family members while others waited anxiously for news.

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Messages of condolences continue to pour in following the July 18 capsizing of MV Barima off the Essequibo Coast, taking the lives of at least 65 persons while more than 30 others remain unaccounted for.
Guyana’s bilateral partners and allies, as well as civil organisations from around the world, have been reaching out to the Government to extend solidarity and offer support.
Among the most recent messages of condolences over Saturday night’s tragic ferry accident that President Dr Irfaan Ali has received is one from His Majesty, The King.
“My wife and I were most profoundly shocked and saddened to learn of the appallingly tragic loss of life following the capsizing of the MV Barima… The people of Guyana remain very much in our hearts and in our prayers at this time of deep anguish and loss,” King Charles penned in his message that was shared by the British High Commission in Georgetown on Thursday.
The British Royal went on to recall his fondest memories from his visit to Guyana, adding, “…So, it is with particular sorrow that I write to convey our deepest possible sympathy and heartfelt condolences to the people of Guyana and most especially to the families who have lost their loved ones.”
King Charles further extended a special tribute to the courage and dedication of the search and rescue teams who continue their efforts under such difficult circumstances.
Currently, there are at least 19 vessels, both state-owned and private, and three aircraft engaged in the operation off the Essequibo Coast, where the MV Barima is lying on the seabed about nine miles into the Atlantic. The sunken ferry was first located on Monday by local fishermen, who have been assisting with the operation since Saturday night, and was later confirmed by authorities.
The search and rescue efforts continue with support from regional partners, including the French Guiana army, the Brazilian navy, and the Trinidad and Tobago Coast Guard, which have deployed maritime assets and personnel to aid in recovering those missing persons. Their teams will support the diving operations and other specialised recovery activities.
In fact, the teams are actively trying to reposition the ferry on its keel in order to bring it closer to shore so that the divers can gain better access inside while efforts continue to locate those missing persons.
Guyana has also received multiple offers of support from other allies, including China and several Caribbean Community (Caricom) member states.
Meanwhile, the Caribbean Electric Utility Services Corporation (CARILEC) also on Thursday extended heartfelt condolences to the Government and people of Guyana following the tragic ferry disaster that has claimed numerous lives and left countless families and communities in mourning.
“The association expresses its deepest sympathy to the families who have lost loved ones, those anxiously awaiting news of relatives, and the many children, friends, and communities whose lives have been forever changed by this tragedy. While no words can ease such profound sorrow, CARILEC hopes that those affected will find strength in the love, compassion, and support surrounding them during this difficult time,” the missive detailed.
CARILEC too joined in recognising the tireless efforts of the emergency responders, law enforcement personnel, healthcare workers, volunteers, and everyone involved in the ongoing search, rescue, and recovery operations.
According to the Executive Director of CARILEC, Dr Cletus Bertin, “As an organisation founded on the principles of regional collaboration, mutual support, and service, we believe that the Caribbean is more than a collection of islands and nations; we are one community. In moments of triumph, we celebrate together, and in moments of tragedy, we stand together, sharing not only our solidarity but also our compassion, our prayers, and our unwavering support for one another.”
CARILEC is an association of over 100 energy solution providers, including the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) Inc and other stakeholders operating in the electricity industry across the Caribbean.

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Your Eyewitness has noted there’s a peculiar species of politician who only emerge after disasters!! They don’t arrive with life jackets, engineering reports, or practical solutions – they just descend on the scene armed with smartphones – even drones! – and carefully rehearsed expressions of solemn outrage!! The tragic sinking of the MV Barima has become their latest stage.
To be fair, one might have to make an exception for Sanction Man the LOO, who arrived in his fancy, high-powered, wanna-be yacht speed boat from which he used to fire high-powered rifles back in the day across the Demerara River while hosting “freak-off” parties!! He used his experience to recover several dead bodies. But further down and across the opposition food chain, the competition appears less about dealing with the tragedy than about auditioning for the role of Chief Mourner!!
Every utterance is more theatrical than the last; every Facebook post is soaked in freshly manufactured indignation; every interview is delivered as though Shakespeare himself had been retained as media consultant!! One almost expects black armbands embroidered with party logos!! Yes, dear readers, the Barima tragedy has sadly become a political talent show – with contestants competing to demonstrate who’s the most distraught, the most outraged, the most compassionate – all recorded, of course!! Curiously absent from this emotional marathon are serious technical proposals about ocean-going vessels which regrettably offer few opportunities for dramatic sound bites!!
Virtue signalling – which cynically is what these performances are all about – has become the easiest currency in politics!! It doesn’t need any investment beyond a press release and perhaps an appropriately sombre profile picture!! The objective ain’t to solve the problem but to be photographed looking devastated by it!! If social media reactions could repair hulls, Guyana would now possess the safest ferry fleet in the Caribbean!
The irony is that genuine accountability is painstaking work. It involves what the Government is doing – WAITING for investigations, examining maintenance records, identifying individual failures, exposing systemic weaknesses and, where negligence is proven, ensuring that those responsible face legal and professional consequences!! That process is slower than a Facebook livestream and considerably less glamorous!! Political opportunism, however, cannot wait: it demands immediacy. Every hour that passes without a dramatic statement is another hour in which a competitor might monopolise the outrage.
However, the families who lost loved ones deserve better than competitive grief: facts rather than theatrics, reforms instead of hashtags, and justice instead of performance art!! Perhaps the greatest tribute to those who perished would be to ensure that no politician ever again finds it profitable to turn a national tragedy into a campaign advertisement disguised as compassion!!
In Guyanese politics, some folks mistake standing at a graveside for standing on higher moral ground!

…Centrifugal Double Standards
It seems the US just discovered a revolutionary scientific principle: uranium enrichment ain’t dangerous – it just depends on whose centrifuge is spinning! For years, we were warned that Iran enriching uranium was an existential threat – worthy of sanctions, sabotage, air strikes and solemn speeches about the survival of civilisation!!
Now comes a deal to sell nuclear reactors to Saudi Arabia – with no stipulation to forbid enrichment, as with the UAE. Seems the centrifuges ain’t evil no mo!! They’ve just changed neighbourhoods!! Your Eyewitness imagines the uranium itself being thoroughly confused – “Yesterday I was the reason for war. Today I’m part of a strategic partnership??”
To be fair, Governments always give a free pass to allies and trust them with technologies that adversaries are denied. That distinction lies at the heart of most security alliances, innit?? But when one country’s enrichment is a casus belli while another’s is accommodated under a friendly agreement, folks are bound to ask whether the principle is non-proliferation…
Or simply selective proliferation!!

…against narco-smuggling
Your Eyewitness was beginning to wonder what happened to Venezuela’s comrade Mad Maduro, who’d been spirited away to New York on narco-trafficking charges – as head of the Cartel de las Solos!!
Seems like the trials are for June 1, 2027!!

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…as death toll climbs to 72 as 65 bodies identified; over 30 still missing

The death toll from Saturday night’s capsizing of the MV Barima off the Essequibo Coast continues to rise as authorities recover more bodies while efforts continue to reposition the sunken vessel in order to gain better access as part of ongoing recovery efforts.
In his latest update via a video statement on the search and recovery operations, Prime Minister (PM) Brigadier (Ret’d) Mark Phillips confirmed on Thursday night that the total number of bodies recovered to date is 72 following the discovery of several others.
According to the PM, who is leading the Government’s emergency response operation, “…65 of the [72] recovered bodies have been identified by their families.”
So far, more than 20 bodies have been handed over to the respective families for funeral rites, with the Government covering all the expenses. In fact, several of these victims were laid to rest on Thursday.
The number of people rescued from last weekend’s tragedy remains at 76, while at least 31 persons are still missing.
However, the search and recovery operations are ongoing, with the technical teams continuing to work on repositioning the sunken MV Barima, which lies on the seabed some nine miles off the Essequibo Coast in Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam). The aim is to have the vessel positioned on its keel in order to bring it closer to shore where divers can safely enter.
Currently, there are 22 assets, both state and private, comprising 19 vessels and three aircraft that remain actively engaged in the search and recovery operation.
As part of the broader recovery effort, Guyana is receiving support from regional partners, including the French Guiana Army, the Brazilian Navy, and the Trinidad and Tobago Coast Guard, which have deployed maritime assets and personnel to aid in recovering the missing persons. Their teams will support diving operations and other specialised recovery activities.
This newspaper understands that the divers, both local and foreign, are encountering challenging conditions while attempting to move the vessel.
“They’re still trying [to reposition] the boat… The divers are trying to attach cables and such to the boat so that work is ongoing. When they’re done attaching the cables and everything, then they’ll try to move the boat,” PM Phillips told the Guyana Times when contacted around mid-afternoon on Thursday for an update on the offshore operations.
This publication understands that the divers had successfully attached the cables and ropes to the sunken ferry; however, persons closely involved in the recovery operation explained that when they try to pull the vessel, the cables and ropes kept bursting.
Despite the rough Atlantic conditions and some divers even becoming sick, the teams remain adamant in their efforts to move the vessel. In addition to foreign assistance, this multi-agency operation is also supported by the private sector and local fishermen, who not only played a critical role in rescuing survivors but were also the first to locate the sunken ferry on Monday.

Night operation
Nevertheless, President Dr Irfaan Ali indicated that the recovery operations continued into Thursday night.
“Efforts continue into the night as teams work tirelessly to reposition the wreck of the MV Barima so that divers can safely carry out the next phase of the operation,” the Guyanese leader said in an update on his social media page.
Since Monday, President Ali has been on the ground in Charity, Essequibo Coast, where survivors and anxious family members are awaiting news of their loved ones yet to be found. Recovered bodies are taken to Charity for identification and storage.
On Thursday morning, the Head of State engaged with and updated the grieving relatives of those still missing, including crew members’ families, about the ongoing search, rescue, and recovery operations.
President Ali has already assured these families that no effort would be spared to locate their missing loved ones.
“We’re not giving up on recovery. We’re not giving up on rescue… We’re still trying… to get inside the vessel. Unfortunately, the strength of the current did not allow us to make the type of progress we were anticipating… I want to assure you that we’re not going to stop. We’re going to continue this [operation],” he declared.

Drone flying prohibited
Meanwhile, aerial surveillance continues across the designated search area, which spans an expanded 2,100 square kilometres and extends up to Waini Point, Region One (Barima-Waini).
Authorities are cautioning the public to refrain from flying drones within the airspace of the designated search area since this poses a significant hazard to the aircraft conducting the critical aerial operations.
The MV Barima departed the Georgetown stelling at about 15:00h on Saturday on its scheduled voyage to Port Kaituma, Region One, carrying 179 persons, including 18 crew members and cargo. According to officials, the vessel encountered rough sea conditions off the Essequibo Coast near the mouth of the Pomeroon River late that night.
Survivors have recalled that the ferry began tilting to one side before capsizing, throwing passengers into the water in less than a minute. A distress signal transmitted at approximately 23:01h was received by aviation authorities, triggering a large-scale multi-agency emergency response that still continues.
Addressing concerns raised in the aftermath of the disaster, blood samples were taken from the captain and crew members for testing. Authorities released the results showing positive tests for cannabis and subsequently arrested the captain and two crew members. Another official from the Transport and Harbours Department (THD), which manages ferry services, was also detained as part of the police investigation.
Subsequently, the Government, in its initial probe on the issue, uncovered that more people were aboard the vessel than had been recorded on the original passenger manifest. That information, along with the manifest, was immediately made public and resulted in a number of managers at the THD being sent off.
Meanwhile, the Government has since announced that an independent Commission of Inquiry (CoI) would be launched to determine the circumstances that led to the sinking of the MV Barima. The investigation is expected to examine all relevant factors before any further actions are taken.

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Days after the MV Barima tragedy off Guyana’s coast, which claimed the lives of scores of people, including children, several families gathered on Thursday to say their final goodbyes to loved ones as heart-breaking funeral services unfolded in an atmosphere of deep grief.

In White Water Village, Region One (Barima-Waini), relatives, friends and residents paid their final respects to Shamera Smith and Aarave Daniels, whose lives were cut short in the maritime disaster. The funeral service drew members of the wider community, alongside regional officials who attended to offer condolences and support to the bereaved families.
Among those present were Regional Chairman Brentnol Ashley, Minister of Natural Resources Vickram Bharrat, Regional Executive Officer Dr Steven Cheefoon, and other regional representatives.
Meanwhile, at the Regional Democratic Council (RDC) Lawns in Mabaruma, family members, friends, residents and government officials gathered for the funeral service of Gwenette Nunes and Ulanda Marques, who also perished in the tragedy.
Officials joined mourners in paying tribute to the victims and extending condolences to their grieving relatives, as communities across the region continued to mourn those who lost their lives.
The funeral services formed part of a series of ceremonies being held for victims of the MV Barima tragedy, which has left families and communities across Region One mourning the sudden loss of loved ones.
Meanwhile, family, friends and loved ones gathered on Thursday at the Memorial Gardens Funeral Home to pay their final respects to Clairmonte King, one of the victims of the MV Barima tragedy.
King was remembered as a devoted husband, father, grandfather, brother and uncle, with mourners sharing heartfelt tributes as they celebrated his life and reflected on the impact he had on those around him.
Minister of Human Services and Social Security, Dr Vindhya Persaud, joined the grieving family at the homegoing service, offering condolences and words of comfort as they mourned the loss of their loved one.
The Minister reaffirmed the Government’s commitment to supporting families affected by the MV Barima tragedy while standing in solidarity with the King family as they bid farewell to a cherished member of their family.
Over in the ancient county of Berbice, family and friends bid their final farewell to Kevin Wilson, one of the crew members who tragically lost his life. Attending the funeral were Regional Chairman Junior Bassant and Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh along with other regional officials.
In Region Three, Minister of Public Utilities and Aviation Deodat Indar and other officials joined the family, relatives, and friends of Ravindra Singh and Bibi Mohamed in an emotional send-off.
During the funeral at Zeelugt, Minister Indar expressed heartfelt condolences, acknowledging the profound grief that the nation is experiencing due to this tragedy.
He reaffirmed the Government of Guyana’s support for the affected families and encouraged the wider community to come together in prayer and compassionate support for all those impacted by this heart-breaking event. Minister Priya Manickchand and Regional Chairman Ayube Inshaan also attended the funeral service.

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