Tourist’s disappearance at Orinduik Falls puts spotlight on safety

Last Updated on Monday, 31 October 2022, 21:45 by Denis Chabrol

The disappearance of a Guyanese tourist at Orinduik Falls in Region Eight (Potaro-Siparuni) has brought into sharp focus the apparent absence of trained and qualified tour guides at that location.

Based on an account from one of the other tourists,  who was part of the group that flew in on Air Services Limited plane to the area, Mr Gladstone Haynes encountered difficulties in the water and and was washed away downstream. “Basically, he went into some difficulty in the water and he held another guy’s hand. I don’t know if the guy couldn’t grip him and at that point he wen under water and he didn’t come up back after that point,” the tourist said on condition of anonymity.  The incident reportedly occurred between 2:15 and 2:30 PM Sunday while they were bathing at the bottom

An official of ASL told Demerara Waves Online News that that domestic carrier is not responsible for that tour destination but merely transports interested persons. Multiple sources have told this news agency that routinely either the knowledgeable pilot or a policeman accompanies the tourists to the falls and informs them where are safe locations but on Sunday, after they disembarked the pilot reportedly told them to walk through a trail and they would see Orinduik Falls.

The captain of the flight was incidentally a Nicaraguan, Ivan Molina.

One of the passengers recounted that after Haynes slipped into the water and could not be rescued, an alarm was raised to the pilot but apparently the aircraft radio communication system does not have direct contact with the ASL’s headquarters at the Eugene Correia ‘Ogle’ Airport, East Coast Demerara. The tourist, who preferred to remain anonymous, said that in such situations the pilot should be carrying a satellite phone.

The tourist, who was among those who ran to the plane and informed the pilot, said ASL is wholly responsible for what happened because there were no tour guides. “The captain at that point basically said you can follow this track to go down to the falls and we were basically on our own. The captain did not have communication with Air Services from where we were…When we went back to Air Services Limited, apparently they did not know what happened until we arrived there,” the tourist said.

The tourist said the police arrived at the Falls after the incident occurred.

The visitor, who has experience with Health, Safety and the Environment (HSE) mechanisms, lamented that “I don’t think that Guyana is a safety oriented country. I think they put safety last in all aspects of their life.”  He recommended that no one  bathe at Orinduik Falls without a life jacket. “There is one thing to bring a tour guide but I think the tour guide needs to be someone from that area who is familiar with the water. You want to bring a tour guide? Is he qualified in First Aid? Is he a qualified swimmer if someone is drowning?,” the official said.

Director of the Guyana Tourism Authority (GTA), Kamrul Baksh, however, told Demerara Waves Online News that the Region Eight administration is responsible for Orinduik Falls as a tourist destination. He added that that destination, like similar spots, are required to have licensed tour guides who are trained in Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR), First Aid, and wilderness first-response including basic jungle survival techniques. “They should be equipped to handle any scenario that confronts them,” he said. Mr Baksh said there is a database of trained guides who work on rotation basis.

The GTA was Monday trying to ascertain from ASL and counterparts whether guides were there to accompany the tour parties and acquire documents to independently verify whether there was a guide on Sunday afternoon at Orinduik Falls. “From what I understand is that there is usually a guide, not the other way around,” he said.

Mr Baksh said the GTA’s inspectorate conducts inspections at the start of the year, second and ad hoc inspections of tour operations and accommodation facilities.

Mr Baksh said airlines “have a responsibility to take care of the passengers on the tour” beyond just transporting them to and from their destination. Additionally, he said he was checking with ASL to ascertain whether the carrier has liability insurance for these tours, “not necessarily for air incident; for tour parties as well.” “All tour operators should have public liability insurance once you are registered to be conducting such tours,” the GTA official added.

Up to Monday night seven members of the Guyana Defence Force Special Forces, the Divisional Police Commander and four policemen were in the area searching for Gladstone Haynes.