标签： Guyana

On Thursday, August 6, 2026, Guyanese President Irfaan Ali publicly rejected growing opposition and activist demands for the resignation of Maritime Transport Minister Juan Edghill, just weeks after the deadly July 19 sinking of the MV Barima ferry that left dozens missing off the country’s Essequibo Coast. The president made his position clear while exiting a model village initiative community consultation held at Melanie Nursery School in Melanie Damishana, along Guyana’s East Coast Demerara, where a heavy police presence was deployed to separate a small group of anti-government protesters from the event venue.

The MV Barima tragedy, widely described as the deadliest maritime disaster in recent Caribbean history, occurred when the overloaded ferry sank en route from Georgetown to Port Kaituma in the hard-hit Region One (Barima-Waini). Official tallies confirm 76 people were rescued, 72 passengers and crew are confirmed dead, and 30 remain unaccounted for, with 179 total people recorded as being on board when the vessel capsized in Atlantic waters. Authorities have launched a salvage operation prioritizing the preservation of forensic evidence for an independent Commission of Inquiry (COI) that President Ali has pledged to let operate without political interference.

When questioned by Demerara Waves Online News on calls to place Edghill on administrative leave or force his resignation ahead of the inquiry’s findings, Ali maintained he would not pre-empt the COI’s work. “There is a COI and I have established its independence and let the COI work, ok,” the president stated. Notably, Edghill remained in his post as of Wednesday this week, and even accompanied Ali on a ministerial outreach trip to Region One just over a month after the sinking.

Local law enforcement blocked off access roads surrounding the nursery school to contain the protest, which drew only a small crowd of demonstrators on the village’s main access road. President Ali entered the venue via an alternate route to avoid the gathering. Prior to the start of the consultation, Walston Martins, Chairman of the Buxton-Foulis Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC), and an unidentified woman were escorted from the area opposite the school to beyond police cordons. After the removal, the woman was arrested and transported from the scene in a police vehicle. A senior police official also suggested that a journalist could face arrest for allegedly violating restrictions on access to the active police operation.

As he was escorted out, Martins denounced the action as unconstitutional and announced plans to challenge the government and law enforcement in court. He argued that as the local NDC chair, he had a legal right to be present for the community meeting held within his jurisdiction. “I’m the chairman of this NDC. This is my jurisdiction… I will carry the whole pack to court and let us see who will win,” Martins said. From behind the police barrier later, Martins criticized the national series of model village consultations, framing the public outreach as a deliberate distraction from public grief and unanswered questions surrounding the ferry disaster. “This government is a deflective government or a deflection government because we have a boat that is under the sea, we have people that are still hurting and you want to come and talk about a model village,” he said, adding that the government should have consulted the local NDC directly rather than holding standalone community events.

A senior on-scene police official pushed back against Martins’ claims, alleging that law enforcement overheard Martins stating he had not come to the area to attend the consultation. Martins has previously participated in small protests against the criminal charges brought against MV Barima Captain Kevin “KP” Price and two other Transport and Harbours Department workers, who are currently facing murder charges in connection with the deaths of the 72 victims.

Shortly after Martins’ removal, several parliamentarians from the main opposition bloc A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) arrived at the scene to lead protests. The demonstrators chanted calls for both Edghill and Deodat Indar, the country’s maritime regulation minister, to step down, with additional chants demanding the ruling People’s Progressive Party (PPP) government leave office. Law enforcement deployed a standard prisoner transport van to the site to manage arrests and crowd control as the demonstration unfolded.

On Wednesday, August 5, 2026, two major Guyanese groups — the Amerindian People’s Association (APA) and the main opposition coalition A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) — publicly condemned Juan Edghill, Guyana’s minister of maritime transportation, for joining a government-led community outreach in Region One (Barima-Waini), the home region of most victims of the July 19 MV Barima ferry sinking. The tragedy, one of the worst maritime disasters in the country’s recent history, has left 72 people confirmed dead, 30 others unaccounted for, and 76 survivors rescued. Widespread public and political demand for Edghill’s resignation or dismissal has persisted in the weeks since the sinking, as critics hold him responsible for the systemic failures that led to the disaster.

Jean La Rose, an executive member of the APA, described Edghill’s inclusion in the outreach, which was headed by sitting President Irfaan Ali, as a deliberate mockery of grieving Region One communities. La Rose emphasized that the minister bears direct accountability for the tragedy and should step down immediately to clear the way for an uncompromised, independent investigation. She raised concerns that the government-orchestrated community meetings would restrict open criticism, noting that pre-screened, hand-picked speakers have been allowed to dominate similar government events in the past.

When asked whether Edghill could have attended the outreach to address community questions directly, La Rose argued that he could only do so legitimately if he had already resigned from his post. She added that other key stakeholders, including the ferry’s captain, its first mate, and a senior superintendent from the Transport and Harbours Department, should also be present to answer for the failures that led to the sinking. La Rose also pointed to ongoing gaps in casualty accounting, arguing that a functioning accountability system would have provided an accurate, complete count of how many passengers were on board when the vessel went down. She further criticized the five-member Commission of Inquiry (COI) convened by the government, saying it was assembled hastily without public input on its membership or terms of reference. APNU has echoed these criticisms in full.

Juretha Fernandes, an APNU member of parliament, argued that Edghill has already proven himself incapable of delivering safe maritime transportation for Guyanese citizens. She called Edghill’s presence at the Region One outreach a blatant “slap in the face” to grieving Indigenous families in the region. “This sends a clear message from the Guyanese government to the Indigenous people of Region One: we do not care about your lost loved ones, we do not care about your pain, and we have no empathy for what you are going through right now,” Fernandes stated. She urged Region One residents to unite in rejecting Edghill, who she labeled a “monument to impunity” that embodies the government’s refusal to hold officials accountable. “Over 100 lives were lost on this minister’s watch, due to his own negligence and incompetence, and now the government sends him to meet the very communities that lost so much,” Fernandes added.

Fellow APNU parliamentarian Nima Flue-Bess extended the criticism to the government as a whole, arguing that Guyanese voters must ultimately decide how long they will tolerate what she called an “uncaring and unempathetic” administration. Flue-Bess claimed the outreach is just the latest government tactic to mislead the public, pointing to the hand-picked COI and quiet, private outreach to victim families as efforts to silence demands for justice. “All of these actions demonstrate a complete lack of care for the victims and their loved ones. It is time for the Guyanese people to respond in kind,” she said.

To date, Edghill has not directly addressed the calls for his resignation, only stating that he will issue a statement at an “appropriate” time. Despite the widespread criticism, APNU parliamentary leader Dr. Terrence Campbell acknowledged that sustained public pressure from opposition and civil society groups has forced limited progress from the government. Campbell confirmed that the administration has now issued a call for expressions of interest from experienced marine firms to salvage the sunken MV Barima, a core demand for a thorough COI investigation. While Campbell said the opposition remains unsatisfied with the slow pace of progress, he added that the outcome proves protests work: “If we had not protested and kept up pressure, the PPP government would have left the MV Barima sitting at the bottom of the Atlantic, with no investigation and no accountability.” Campbell also noted that the disaster has galvanized opposition unity, which was on display during an earlier outreach led by Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo in Linden on Tuesday. “Unified action is the only way we can hold this government accountable to the Guyanese people,” he said.

On Wednesday, 5 August 2026, a routine maritime inspection along Guyana’s Pomeroon River erupted into a major political controversy after the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) halted a speedboat carrying Opposition Leader Azruddin Mohamed, drawing sharp accusations of political weaponization from opposition lawmakers. The confrontation centers on competing claims over why the Moruca-bound vessel was blocked from continuing its journey, deepening already tense relations between the ruling People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPPC) administration and the opposition bloc.

In an official statement responding to public criticism, the GDF clarified that its Coast Guard detachment stationed at the Pomeroon Floating Base stopped the vessel as part of regular compliance checks for vessels transiting local waterways. According to the military statement, the vessel’s operator failed to produce three mandatory documents required for passage: a valid boat master’s licence, official vessel registration, and a current certificate of vessel inspection. Under established GDF procedures, all vessels must register their journey at the floating base and present full documentation before proceeding to their destination. As a result of the missing paperwork, the captain was ordered to return to the nearby port of Charity to secure the required certifications before resuming the trip, the GDF explained.

The military emphasized that the inspection was not targeted at any individual or political group, framing the action as part of ongoing efforts to enforce maritime safety rules, boost waterway security, and ensure all operators comply with national regulations. The GDF also reminded all vessel operators to maintain up-to-date documentation and require all passengers to wear properly fitted lifejackets for the duration of all voyages.

Opposition leaders have rejected the military’s explanation, decrying the stop as a deliberate act of political repression orchestrated by the ruling PPPC. Speaking to reporters from a picket line outside the Office of the President, A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) Parliamentary Leader Dr. Terrence Campbell called the incident a dangerous escalation of authoritarian tactics, accusing the government of turning the GDF into a political weapon to violate core constitutional rights. “We are seeing this thing escalating now under this PPPC dictatorship,” Campbell said. “We are seeing a weaponisation of the Guyana Defence Force and this is worrying because especially the army they are there to uphold the constitution of Guyana.” Campbell added that the incident follows a similar alleged targeting of Mohamed the previous day, when security forces were deployed to the town of Linden during a protest at Watooka House, where the opposition leader’s boat was reportedly flagged for interdiction.

Mohamed, who confirmed he had chartered the speedboat to attend a planned peaceful protest in Moruca, backed up Campbell’s claims of political persecution. The opposition leader said his party departed Charity at approximately 7:30 a.m. Wednesday, arriving at the Pomeroon Floating Base an hour later to complete required check-in procedures for travel into the Atlantic Ocean. After the crew tied the vessel to the base and all passengers signed the required log, a GDF service member requested photographs of the group, which were provided without objection. The situation shifted, Mohamed said, when the same service member demanded to see the vessel’s registration documentation. The captain informed personnel that he had already transited the same waterway earlier that same morning without being asked for the documents, Mohamed added.

Ultimately, the trip was aborted, and Mohamed was forced to return to Charity. He claimed a police marine unit shadowed his vessel back to port, and he had received intelligence that plainclothes police were already waiting in the Moruca creek to intercept him on arrival. “Political persecution and victimization- they don’t want me to attend peaceful protest at Moruca. The President doesn’t want to see me there,” Mohamed said.

The trip had already faced a preliminary hurdle: the Toshao (indigenous village leader) of Santa Rosa issued a public advisory stating that Mohamed did not have permission to visit the community. But Mohamed pushed back against that restriction, noting that a majority of the village’s residents had requested he visit to address their concerns. He explained that he chartered the speedboat instead of using his personal vessel because his own boat has an extended engine that risks hitting submerged debris in the shallow local waterways.

Mohamed also challenged the GDF’s authority to carry out documentation checks, arguing that this responsibility falls exclusively to Guyana’s Maritime Administration, not the military. He further claimed that the vast majority of small vessels operating between Pomeroon and Moruca lack formal registration, even though most captains hold valid personal operating licenses.

On the evening of Tuesday, 4 August 2026, a high-profile political standoff unfolded at Watooka House in Linden, Guyana, after Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo rejected opposition demands to meet with demonstrators and address their multiple policy and governance grievances, wrapping up a government-led community outreach and departing the site under heightened security.

The confrontation capped a day of escalating tension, as main opposition coalitions We Invest in Nationhood (WIN) and A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) gathered protesters to push for five core demands. First, the groups called on Jagdeo to compel the Regional Executive Officer (REO) of Region 10 – which covers Upper Demerara-Upper Berbice – to schedule a new regional council meeting to elect a chair and deputy chair, after two previous rounds of voting ended in tied results. Second, they argued that the five-member Commission of Inquiry convened to investigate the MV Barima ferry sinking was structurally biased toward the ruling government, citing its composition and the unilateral drafting of its investigation mandate. Third, the opposition demanded that Jagdeo reverse the government’s plan to use an extended competitive bidding process for the ferry salvage contract, and instead award the work through direct sole-sourcing. The MV Barima sank on 18 July 2026. Finally, the groups called for the immediate resignations of two cabinet ministers with oversight of the maritime sector, Juan Edghill and Deodat Indar.

Despite hours of protest pressure, Jagdeo refused to concede to the demands, departing the Watooka House compound at approximately 7:46 p.m. with a beefed-up security detail. The situation grew chaotic in the moments before his exit: after protesters pushed over police barricades and entered the grounds of the property, additional security forces including marine police, the Guyana Defence Force Coast Guard, and a detachment of soldiers were deployed to the area. As the Vice President entered his vehicle to leave, demonstrators surrounded the car and shouted protest slogans, prompting uniformed police and presidential bodyguards to jog alongside the moving vehicle. One member of Jagdeo’s security team deployed a bulletproof shield near the Vice President’s position in the vehicle.

In his first public comments to media in months, Jagdeo pushed back against the opposition’s actions, framing the protest as a failed attempt to derail the government outreach. “It didn’t deter the large number of people who showed up here today. They were hoping that people would boycott coming to this activity. They failed miserably. People just ignored all that they had to say,” Jagdeo told reporters, adding, “I’m happy that they failed.”

Opposition leaders quickly hit back at Jagdeo’s departure, framing the move as a dereliction of democratic duty. Opposition Leader Azruddin Mohamed slammed the Vice President, saying, “VP Jagdeo after hiding from the people all day decided to abscond without speaking to the residents of Linden. He thought he could wait us out but instead he had to run like the coward he is.” Mohamed reiterated the opposition’s demand for the REO to convene the delayed regional leadership election, arguing that the current impasse is undemocratic. “This is not democracy; this is dictatorship,” he said. Mohamed praised the unity of opposition groups that participated in the demonstration, claiming the day’s events amounted to an opposition victory. “Everyone stood their ground to fight for the rights of the people of this country and this is a victory for us today. We could have entered that building today,” he added.

Senior opposition lawmakers echoed Mohamed’s criticism. APNU parliamentarian Sharma Solomon dismissed the entire government outreach as a hollow political performance, calling it a “masquerade” because the government officials in attendance had no intention of engaging with local concerns. “As a collective opposition, we have demonstrated that the issues are bigger than even this government and Edghill and Indar must go,” Solomon said. Fellow APNU legislator Sherod Duncan praised the opposition leadership, claiming the government had been forced to retreat. “It was a privilege to be here today with the Leader of the Opposition. The Leader of the Opposition stood up here today and the government cowered,” Duncan said.

On Tuesday, 4 August 2026, hundreds of opposition-aligned protesters led by two major Guyanese opposition parties breached police barriers and advanced into the Watooka House compound in Linden, the capital of Guyana’s Region 10. The demonstration was organized to confront Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo, who was leading a government ministerial outreach event at the location, and to voice public fury over the incumbent administration’s handling of the deadly MV Barima ferry disaster last month.

The protest was backed by Azruddin Mohamed, leader of the 16-seat main opposition party We Invest in Nationhood (WIN) and Guyana’s official Opposition Leader, as well as Aubrey Norton, head of the 12-seat A Partnership for National Unity (APNU). Eyewitness accounts confirm Mohamed was at the front of the crowd when a segment of protesters pushed through a reinforced police barrier, pushing the demonstration all the way to the main entrance stairs of Watooka House.

Speaking from the protest line, WIN General Secretary Odessa Primus accused the government of delaying and misleading demonstrators. Primus stated that police had promised the Vice President would come down to speak with the crowd, but he never appeared. She said, “We would agree to stand peacefully if he engaged us, but he is hiding inside. Why are you lying to the Guyanese people?”

The mass action, the largest opposition-led demonstration in Guyana in recent years, was directly triggered by the MV Barima ferry tragedy that killed more than 100 people, with 76 others rescued from the incident. While the outreach event was ongoing inside Watooka House, the government’s Department of Public Information posted photos to its Facebook page as late as 1:01 PM showing Jagdeo and cabinet members meeting with local residents, though the timing of the photos before publication remains unclear. On his own official Facebook page, Jagdeo posted a video of former APNU+AFC housing minister Valerie Patterson-Yearwood praising infrastructure development across Linden since the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) won national office in 2020.

Protesters maintained sustained chants throughout the demonstration, including calls of “No retreat, no surrender” and demands for the resignation of Juan Edghill and Deodat Indar, the two cabinet ministers with oversight of Guyana’s maritime sector. They also repeatedly called for the urgent recovery of the sunken MV Barima, saying that the government’s extended procurement process to hire an experienced salvage firm that can preserve forensic evidence for the official Commission of Inquiry (COI) is an unnecessary delay that could destroy critical evidence. Protesters chanted “Bring up the evidence” to emphasize their demand for immediate action.

Beyond the ferry tragedy, demonstrators also pushed for resolution of a months-long leadership vacuum in Region 10. WIN parliamentarian Tabitha Sarabo-Halley led calls for the Regional Executive Officer to immediately schedule a vote to fill the empty Regional Chairman position. The region has been without a permanent Chairman since the September 1 2025 general and regional elections, after the election resulted in a tied vote for the post. Mohamed, who has styled himself as a voice for Region 10’s overwhelmingly pro-WIN electorate, argued that the incumbent government is intentionally blocking the appointment to maintain control over the region. He warned that if the administration refuses to reconvene the regional council and instruct the Regional Executive Officer to hold a vote, opposition groups will organize large-scale protests at every future government outreach event across the country.

Mohamed, a relatively new political figure who was once an ally of Jagdeo’s governing PPP/C, cut ties publicly with the ruling party shortly after he and his father Nazar “Shell” Mohamed were sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control in June 2024. The sanctions were imposed over allegations the pair smuggled more than 10,000 kilograms of gold and evaded more than $50 million USD in taxes owed to the Guyanese government.

PNCR-APNU parliamentarian and former Linden Mayor Sharma Solomon told reporters on the protest line that the five-member COI appointed by the government to investigate the MV Barima tragedy is inherently biased toward the PPP/C administration. He noted that the government has a long pattern of unilaterally appointing commission members and setting the inquiry’s terms of reference, arguing that “this commission of inquiry is discredited from its very start. Families will never get the justice they are seeking as long as this government continues to railroad the public inquiry process.” Solomon also defended three public servants who have already been charged with murder in connection with the 72 passenger and crew deaths, saying that political leaders should be held accountable rather than low-level public officials. He called for Edghill and Indar to step down immediately to allow a truly impartial investigation.

APNU leader Aubrey Norton, who is a native of Linden, echoed these criticisms, saying Tuesday’s mass protest was inevitable because the government has repeatedly refused to address public concerns over the tragedy. “The government bears full responsibility for this situation,” Norton stated, stressing that the administration has a fundamental obligation to be accountable to all Guyanese people. He joined calls for immediate salvage of the MV Barima, arguing that the government’s reliance on a formal competitive procurement process is nothing more than a deliberate delay tactic. Noting that the PPP/C administration frequently uses no-bid single-source contracting for other projects, Norton said the public would fully support using the same approach here to raise the vessel as quickly as possible. “This work has to get done, and it has to get done urgently,” he emphasized.

This report was compiled from monitoring published content from Royston Drakes Productions’ Facebook page, with original photos sourced from the same outlet.

On Monday, August 3, 2026, Guyana’s President Irfaan Ali outlined sweeping community improvement plans under the government’s new model villages initiative during two public consultations held in Zeelugt, West Coast Demerara and Tuschen, East Bank Essequibo, promising transformative upgrades to quality of life for residents across Region Three.

During a meeting at Zeelugt Primary School, President Ali confirmed that the village’s popular but hazardous roadside snackettes – small food vendors that currently operate directly along the main public thoroughfare – will be relocated to a purpose-built new public market. The new facility will feature a dedicated section for these vendors, alongside a clean, safe, hygienic, and visitor-friendly food court designed to draw local patrons and tourists alike. Complementing the market development, the government has a large-scale waterfront regeneration project in the works that will add a public park and dedicated event spaces designed to host community gatherings without disrupting residential areas. Beyond food vendors, the plan also calls for consolidating spray-painting workshops, mechanic garages and other similar businesses into a single zoned location that minimizes noise, traffic and pollution impacts on nearby residential neighborhoods.

For Tuschen, located across the Essequibo River on the East Bank, the government plans to build a dedicated centralized logistics hub that will serve as a large-scale truck parking lot to remove heavy commercial vehicles from residential streets. Minister of Public Utilities and Aviation Deodat Indar, a Tuschen resident himself, detailed the breadth of infrastructure upgrades planned for the community: 89 kilometers of newly expanded, deep concrete drains that will double as water reservoirs to address flooding and water storage needs; reinforced road shoulders for all two-lane routes; pre-installed ducts for future utility service expansions; and a new bypass road connecting Tuschen to Windsor Forest that will redirect through traffic away from the village’s crowded residential core.

A centerpiece of the Tuschen upgrade is a GY$1.5 billion, 32,000 square-foot modern public market to be constructed at the rear of the village. Indar emphasized that the new facility will replace the informal, makeshift pallet-built stalls that currently serve vendors, raising community living and commercial standards long-term. Additional public safety and infrastructure upgrades include 168 new security cameras to support local law enforcement in crime reduction, the installation of new fire hydrants for improved emergency response, and 1,500 new street lights to boost nighttime safety and visibility. Maintenance of the upgraded community spaces will fall jointly to the Region Three administration and the Ministry of Local Government, Indar confirmed.

Housing Minister Collin Croal added clear expectations for community standards under the model villages initiative, stating that the government will not allow ongoing issues including derelict vehicles abandoned on public land, unregulated improper garbage disposal, long-term open storage of construction materials on public rights-of-way, and poorly maintained drainage systems that contribute to flooding. President Ali framed the model villages project as a holistic effort to improve resident quality of life, addressing not just physical infrastructure but also social cohesion, environmental cleanliness, and noise pollution reduction. “The quality of life that we experience in the community depends on the quality of our values, our culture, the way we treat the environment, the way we dump our garbage and the way in which we look out for each other,” he told attendees.

A planned meeting of Guyana’s key parliamentary oversight body, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), adjourned abruptly within minutes on Monday, 3 August 2026 after the entire opposition delegation from A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) staged a walkout to protest the participation of Public Works Minister Juan Edghill, a senior parliamentary source has confirmed. The protest was led by APNU’s PAC representative Ganesh Mahipaul, who argued that Edghill must step back from all committee duties and resign from his cabinet post entirely, amid widespread public scrutiny over the 19 July sinking of the MV Barima. The deadly maritime disaster has left more than 100 people unaccounted for and presumed dead, and opposition parties have pinned institutional blame on Edghill and fellow cabinet minister Deodat Indar, demanding both step down. The main opposition bloc We Invest in Nationhood (WIN) has joined APNU in this call for the ministers’ removal. After Mahipaul raised the objection, PAC Chairman Vishnu Panday ruled against the demand, noting that Edghill retains his legal status as both a sitting government minister and an appointed member of the bipartisan committee. Sitting government PAC representative Gail Teixeira backed the chairman’s ruling, dismissing the opposition’s objection as procedurally out of order and insisting the committee’s scheduled work must move forward. Undeterred by the ruling, Mahipaul and fellow APNU PAC member Juretha Fernandes exited the meeting, leaving the body without the quorum required to conduct official business, forcing an immediate adjournment. The collapse of the meeting comes amid an odd contradiction for APNU: the party has repeatedly pushed for more frequent PAC sessions to clear a years-long backlog of unaddressed Auditor General’s reports. The PAC, as a bipartisan National Assembly mechanism, exists explicitly to investigate and question non-transparent government spending documented in the Auditor General’s annual audits. As of Monday afternoon, it remains unclear whether APNU will adjust its position in coming days to allow the committee to resume its work.