PM says no effort to deliberately kill MV Barima occupants

Last Updated on Tuesday, 28 July 2026, 21:40 by Denis Chabrol

Prime Minister Mark Phillips on Tuesday said he did believe that anyone set out to kill the estimated 179 passengers and crew of the MV Barima that sank earlier this month, unofficially claiming the lives of more than 100 persons.

“At no time did I harbour any thoughts that anybody, much less the captain and crew, had any intentions of killing anybody on that boat,” he told a news conference, even as he indicated that the hopes were fading to find more bodies from Guyana’s worst transportation disaster that occurred late in the night of Saturday, July 19.

The Prime Minister, however, deflected a question about what evidence was provided to have MV Barima’s captain 40-year old Kevin Price, called “KP”,  of Melanie Damishana, East Coast Demerara; Rondell Dwayne Roberts, a 42-year-old Chief Mate of Grove Public Road, East Bank Demerara and Delon Granderson, a 33-year-old Goods Superintendent of Fellowship, West Coast Demerara charged with murder. He told reporters to refer to a press release that was issued earlier Tuesday by Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Shalimar Hack. She stated that the decision to charge the trio with murder of 72 persons. “The decision to do so was based upon careful consideration of the evidence presented, the relevant principles of law involved, case law authorities from the United Kingdom, Commonwealth jurisdictions, the European Court of Human Rights, and public policy considerations,” she said after lawyers Nigel Hughes and Darren Wade questioned the rationale for the charge as there was no intent to murder.

Mr Phillips also said he would rely on the five-member Commission of Inquiry that has been appointed by President Irfaan Ali to probe several aspects of the incident.

The Prime Minister said those charged would be given an opportunity to testify at the Commission of Inquiry. “The crew members, they will be very important as we pursue this commissioner of inquiry, and they will have an opportunity to speak,” he said.

Public Works Minister Juan Edghill had said that the captain and a crew member were tested positive for marijuana use. Under the Shipping Act, the master or any crew member of a Guyana ship, who under the influence of alcohol or drugs, does, refuses or omits to do an act tending to cause destruction or endanger any life or limb will be charged GY$10,000 and imprisonment for 12 months.