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Opposition Leader calls for Edghill’s resignation
…says minister must be held accountable as more than 100 feared dead
…“I will address any issue at the appropriate time, not tonight” — Minister Juan Edghill, declining to respond to resignation calls
(Kaieteur News) – With 53 bodies recovered and at least 50 people still missing following the MV Barima maritime disaster, Opposition Leader Azruddin Mohamed has joined a growing chorus of voices calling for Minister of Public Works Juan Edghill to be removed from office.
Speaking to GoMoseley Radio Station on Tuesday morning from the site where the 87-year-old vessel capsized several miles offshore on the night of July 18, Mohamed said the scale of the tragedy demands ministerial accountability. The Transport and Harbours Department (T&HD), which oversaw the vessel’s operations, falls under Edghill’s portfolio.
Leader of the Opposition, Azruddin Mohamed
Although authorities have disputed claims from relatives and survivors that the vessel was overloaded en route to Port Kaituma, Region One, Mohamed pointed to those same allegations along with concerns about the vessel’s age and condition in laying blame at the minister’s feet.
“The vessel was overloaded and it’s a negligence of the Minister of Public Works. I’m calling on the Minister of Public Works to resign immediately, resign immediately because over 100 lives… It’s sad to say this, but it looks like over 100,” Mohamed said.
He highlighted inconsistencies in the vessel’s passenger manifest, which authorities have since acknowledged did not accurately reflect who was aboard. Edghill initially stated that 116 passengers and 17 crew members were on the vessel; officials later revised that figure to approximately 179 people after reviewing CCTV footage.
“We don’t even know how much passengers on board… One time we heard 116 plus 17. Now they’re giving us different numbers. We don’t know how much persons are on the vessel. That is to begin with. So, no rules, all systems broken,” Mohamed said.
On Monday, the government placed the entire management team responsible for the MV Barima’s loading, dispatch, and oversight on leave pending investigation. Political stakeholders argue accountability should extend beyond those directly responsible for the vessel to the ministers overseeing the relevant agencies.
Edghill declines to address resignation calls
At a press conference Tuesday evening, Edghill declined to directly address whether calls for his resignation were justified, a question Prime Minister Brigadier (Ret’d) Mark Phillips had already fielded during Monday’s briefing.
“I will address any issue at the appropriate time, not tonight,” Edghill said.
Minister of Public Works Juan Edghill
Phillips, who has maintained that any decision on Edghill’s position ultimately rests with President Irfaan Ali, dismissed the resignation calls as political noise.
“Yesterday I said we heard the noise, I wanna congratulate you for contributing to the noise today, it’s not disrespect, of course you are contributing to the noise because I answered you yesterday because we heard the noise and you come back with the same thing…” Phillips told journalist Leroy Smith. “I have no apologies to make for the statement I made yesterday. As far as I am concerned, there is a lot of noise out there from the opposition.”
Opposition Leader alleges political interference
Mohamed also alleged that political interference compromised safety decisions aboard the vessel, claiming the ship’s captain was being unfairly blamed for the disaster.
“Now, this poor innocent man, they want to pin all the problems, like the fault of the captain. Even the family of the captain reached out to me and mentioned phone calls would come to him to put more cargo on the vessel…” Mohamed claimed.
“So, this is the problem in the country. This is the problem. We have ministers influencing everything as it relates to safety,” he added.
Mohamed, who has been assisting with search and recovery operations and has helped locate several bodies, said hope of finding further survivors is fading after three days at sea. “We’re not seeing anything other than bodies floating up,” he said.
He also questioned whether an investigation alone would be sufficient, pointing to concerns that the vessel was riding below its waterline and arguing that a nearly 90-year-old vessel should not have been in service in 2026.
Calls for removal mount across political and civil society groups
Mohamed’s remarks come amid mounting calls from political figures and civil society organizations for Edghill’s removal following what is now being described as Guyana’s deadliest maritime disaster.
The Amerindian Peoples Association (APA), in a statement Monday, said the tragedy exposed poor management and accountability within the T&HD and called for Edghill’s removal, given his oversight of the department.
The APA pointed to Edghill’s own disclosure of discrepancies in the vessel’s manifest as evidence of broader institutional failure. “Who oversees the operations of the vessels that they do not detect what appears to be corrupt practices in overloading? Who is responsible for the regular maintenance of the vessels that a seemingly unseaworthy and aged vessel is allowed to ply dangerous routes without care for the souls on board?” the association asked.
The APA noted that while people of all ethnicities live in the North-West District, the majority of residents are Indigenous, and rely on the ferry service as the most cost-effective mode of transportation available to them. It said responsibility ultimately falls on the government to ensure safe, reliable, and affordable transport for citizens, and argued that the normalisation of practices Edghill himself described as “mischief” had contributed directly to the systemic failures behind the tragedy.
APNU Members of Parliament Saiku Andrews and Terrence Campbell have also called for Edghill’s resignation or removal. Andrews similarly pointed to the manifest discrepancies and reports concerning the vessel’s actual cargo tonnage at the time of the incident, questioned the maintenance of the decades-old vessel, and urged the government to address the concerns with factual evidence.
The Alliance for Change (AFC) has also called on President Ali to remove Edghill from office.
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Blunt of the day
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Sir. Ronald Sanders
The GHK Lall Column
Weekend Cartoon
What Edghill is saying, when you ready to take a dump, you start building a
latrine.
The Ma Lisha was ordered, built and came to Guyana all within a few years.
Guyana had the statistics of the vessel. They know the details….but…
They could have started construction of the Wharf at the same time as the
Ma Lisha in India. NO. they waited for the arrival of the cargo ship.
Juan Edghill could do better explaining the Wharf fiasco delays.
Meanwhile, a hundred + lives of families, children lost in a wink ON THE
BARIMA, OBVIOUSLKY OVERLOADED.