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Bartica residents concerned about overloaded boats

Jan 11, 2011 News

Residents of the interior gateway community of Bartica are appealing to the maritime authorities to step up monitoring of passengers boats serving the Bartica/Parika route to reduce the number of river mishaps that are presently occurring.
The appeal comes in the wake of another mishap in the Essequibo River last Sunday in which a young woman disappeared and is feared dead.
But although Sunday’s mishap occurred as a result of damage to the bottom of the boat, the residents are adamant that negligence and a wanton disregard for the safety of passengers are the major reasons for several river tragedies.
Speaking to this newspaper yesterday, one concerned resident said that in most cases the operators of boats plying the Parika/Bartica route would load their vessels with a lot of heavy duty mining equipment and cargo in addition to a full load of passengers for the one and a half hour trip.
Some of these equipment consist of engines those sometimes weigh several hundred pounds.
“You have to be here to see what is going on. The monitors are there but I don’t know what is happening,” the concerned resident said.
The resident said that the boat operators are motivated to carry the extra weight by accepting several thousand dollars from uncaring miners.
The residents pointed to another mishap which occurred on January 3, which fortunately did not claim any lives.
In that incident, the boat, which was loaded with passengers and heavy duty mining equipment, developed engine problems almost in the middle of the Essequibo River.
Because of the weight which was at the back of the vessel, the passengers were able to cling unto the bow until the boat was pulled to the safety of the river bank.
Needless to say, several thousand dollars in passengers’ cargo was lost.
“We are not saying that the boats must not fetch cargo but at least they should monitor the weight and reduce the amount of passengers if the need arises,” another resident stated.
He added that in the case of mining equipment, miners should charter special boats which will not carry passengers on such trips.
“The river is not like a road where you can be rescued almost immediately,” the Bartica resident said.

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