MARAD needs to focus solely on safety, says former Director-General

Last Updated on Friday, 7 August 2026, 20:51 by Denis Chabrol

Guyana’s Maritime Administration (MARAD) needs to be restructured to focus exclusively on safety rather than on several unrelated areas, says former Director-General of that regulatory agency Dr Ivor English.

“Maybe questions should be asked or recommendations for a transition or MARAD focusing primarily on maritime safety administration and security and not be saddled with ports and harbours which involves dredging and pilotage, boy tendering and so on which could be very demanding,” said Dr English before he and two other persons were appointed members of a Safety and Compliance Audit team to conduct a comprehensive review of the safety and compliance standards governing marine vessels operating in Guyana. The Guyana government has already stated that a Port Authority would be established.

He told Caribbean Tea, a periodic YouTube programme, that such a “dedicated safety department” should be solely responsible for implementing regional and international standards, though Guyana is already far advanced among the maritime administrations in the Caribbean, probably with the exception of Jamaica.

Dr English was MARAD’s first Director-General who led implementation of the laws and international safety and security standards locally.

A similar recommendation was made Amanza Walton-Desir, a former lawyer at the Public Works Ministry and the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA).

Reiterating the need for MARAD to be relieved from the “burden” of port operations to allow for greater efficacy in safety and security, Dr English said “gaps and lapses” could be addressed by passing laws to give full and complete effect of international maritime conventions that Guyana has ratified. He said MARAD, with the support of its senior legal maritime expert,  is responsible for administering those conventions

Dr English, who is a former General Manager of the Transport and Harbours Department (T&HD) of the Public Works Ministry, emphasised the importance of weeding out complacency- which he said an investigation into the MV Barima incident would have to determine- as people tend to become comfortable when things are going well.  “The officers must be on the ball at all times. You cannot let up on safety, having safety mechanisms in place, doing your drills with respect to lowering of your life raft and so forth, so that everyone is up to speed,” he said.

Asked whether all the rules were being complied with to the letter under his tenure at T&HD and MARAD, he said “there was a very, very positive move towards compliance.” He said MARAD was established as the regulator of all Guyana-flagged vessels while T&HD remained the operator. “Those who operate should not regulate. Then they can become complicit relative to safety standards,” he said. Noting that both T&HD and MARAD are government agencies, he said it was important to have an arms-length relationship in enforcing the rules of safety and security.  “Ultimately, you want to ensure that the standards are maintained at the level of the government operations before you can tell the private sector anything,” he said. 

The former MARAD Director-General said the five-member Commission of Inquiry into the July 19 ferry incident would be able to detect whether there was a gradual decline or a breakdown in standards over a  given period. He believed that the probe would see persons, who used the vessel frequently, testify about whether they had lodged complaints and if there had been any changes.

He deemed MARAD a “work-in-progress” and has since moved “leaps and bounds” today compared to when he was at the helm.

Of the estimated 179 passengers and crew members, 76 persons have been rescued, 72 perished and 30 yet to be recovered.

The Guyana government has invited experienced companies to propose how they intend to salvage the vessel while preserving forensic evidence for the commission of inquiry.