‘Indigenous people have suffered under ‘broken’ transport system for decades’ – APA’s Executive Director

Jul 30, 2026 News

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– calls for legislation, policies in transportation sector to ensure safety of all Guyanese

(Kaieteur News) – The Amerindian Peoples Association (APA) is calling for legislation and policy reforms to guarantee transportation safety for all Guyanese, particularly Indigenous people in remote areas, as it stood in solidarity with survivors and families affected by the MV Barima disaster, which claimed over 70 lives.

APA Executive Director Jean La Rose made the call Wednesday morning during a peaceful picketing exercise outside the Office of the President on Vlissengen Road, organised by the APA and attended by roughly 100 people, including civil society groups, political parties, and relatives of victims. Demonstrators carried placards and chanted “Edghill and Indar Must Go” and “Indigenous Lives Matter.”

“The sinking of the MV Barima was not an unavoidable accident,” the APA said in a statement, adding that it exposed longstanding failures in the country’s river transportation system and reflected weak oversight and systemic neglect of hinterland and riverain communities.

Speaking to media, La Rose described a system that has failed Indigenous communities across every mode of transport. “Whether it is by air, we have leaking planes, whether it is by boat we have leaking boats, whether it is by roads, we have poor roads,” she said, adding that Indigenous people “have suffered so much” under it.

La Rose renewed calls for Minister of Public Works Juan Edghill, whose ministry oversees the Transport and Harbours Department to resign, arguing his departure is necessary to ensure a fair and untainted investigation. “So that people are not intimidated, so that people are truly represented and people’s voices are heard,” she said.

Asked what structural changes are needed to prevent a repeat of the tragedy, La Rose called for legislation, proper monitoring systems, and improved facilities across air, land, and water transport. “We have to have proper systems in place… that when somebody goes on a plane, boat, goes in a car, that there are systems in place that people get from point A to point B safely,” she said. She also renewed calls for the vessel to be recovered, saying it would both yield evidence and give grieving families closure.

La Rose said the APA has been pushing for a Commission of Inquiry since the tragedy, but was not consulted on its terms of reference or the selection of commissioners, a gap she said undermines confidence that the process will be impartial.

“We want answers, we want systems in place to be fixed, too long we as indigenous people, too long as we as Guyanese people have suffered and this is not only an indigenous problem, this is a Guyanese problem and we all have to stand together and we all have to fix this situation now, we don’t want any more lives loss,” she expressed.

The APA Executive Director said the salvaging of the sunken MV Barima would not only provide evidence and information on what transpired but it will give families who lost loved ones closure.

APA Policy and Advocacy Coordinator Nicholas Peters called the disaster evidence of “a systemic failure of the whole system,” noting that deficiencies with the MV Barima had been flagged for decades, not just recently. He argued responsibility extends beyond any single minister to the government and state as a whole, and cautioned against placing full blame on the captain and crew who now face murder charges. “I am not denying that there was some misconduct, but it is also another example of systems that are failing,” he said, calling for further scrutiny of the crew’s working conditions.

Also present was Collin, a relative of victims Neil and Kenrick Cort, who said families joined the protest out of frustration with the government’s handling of the disaster from the outset. He questioned the length of time it took rescue teams to reach the scene after the distress call, arguing that a faster response could have saved more lives, and said the accountability sought by families should extend well beyond the maritime staff already charged. He also pointed to unfulfilled government promises of a new vessel from India and a new stelling for the Port Kaituma route.

The MV Barima capsized on the night of July 18 while en route to Port Kaituma, Region One, leaving 73 people confirmed dead and at least 30 still missing at sea. Survivors and victims’ relatives have alleged the vessel was overloaded, a claim government authorities have denied. The tragedy has fueled sustained calls for the resignation or dismissal of ministers, particularly Edghill, with supporters citing examples from other countries where senior officials stepped down over maritime disasters even before investigations concluded.

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• Amerindian Peoples Association, Indigenous people, MV Barima disaster, transport system

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