GEORGETOWN, Guyana (CMC) – The Guyana government on Tuesday said that the search and recovery operations following the MV Barima tragedy, resulting in the deaths of 73 people and more than 30 others missing and presumed dead, have ended.

A brief statement from the Office of the Prime Minister said that, “however, the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre remains operational” and that “there has been no change in the status of the identification of the recovered bodies”.

The MV Barima sank on July 18 as it made its way from Georgetown to Port Kaituma. A total of 76 people were rescued during the morning after the ferry went down, but since then there has been no other recovery.

The Ministry of Health is still seeking the public’s help in identifying the remains of five individuals died in the tragedy.

Guyana’s Prime Minister Mark Phillips attended an inter-agency meeting convened as part of the After-Action Review of the response to the MV Barima incident at the Civil Defence Commission (CDC) headquarters on Thomas Road Tuesday.

According to a statement on his Facebook page, the meeting facilitated an inter-agency review of the coordinated response to the MV Barima incident and measures to strengthen national emergency preparedness.

It brought together the principal agencies involved in the coordinated response including the Guyana Defence Force, including the Coast Guard and Air Corps, the Guyana Police Force, the Civil Defence Commission, the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre, the Maritime Administration Department, regional authorities and other government agencies.

On Monday, a magistrate adjourned to September 7, the court case in which three people, including the captain of the ill-fated MV Barima, have been charged with murder after the 87-year-old vessel sank.

Kevin Price, alias ‘KP’, the 40-year-old captain of the vessel, his 42 year-old chief mate, Rondell Dwayne Roberts and Delon Granderson, a 33-year-old goods superintendent appeared by Zoom before Magistrate Ravindra Mohabir at the Charity Magistrate’s Court.

Defence lawyers and other legal commentators as well as the opposition have criticised the decision to file the murder charges against the three men, contending that the search is still continuing and that the Commission of Inquiry appointed by the government to examine the circumstances that led to the worst maritime disaster in Guyana’s history has not started its work.

But the police have maintained that the murder charges were instituted following legal advice from the Director of Public Prosecutions.

Director of Public Prosecutions Shalimar Hack said she advised that the trio be charged based on 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.

On Tuesday, the Joint Opposition parties staged a loud protest in Linden as Vice President, Bharrat Jagdeo, was hosting a Government outreach, demanding a full and thorough investigation into the tragedy and the resignations of the two government ministers.

The Opposition parties said the Government is bent on operating as if its business as usual in Guyana, when more than 100 people lost their lives in the ferry tragedy.

Leader of the PNC/R and APNU, Aubrey Norton, was also on the picket line. He said the protest action was inevitable, as citizens are becoming increasingly agitated by the actions of the Government.

“I believe that the Government is not responsive to people’s concerns and as a consequence it is riling the people up. You have a situation where the government is totally responsible for what happened but they are going on as if there were three people on the boat.

“The reality is, that boat was condemned a while, the government brough it back, they forced people to work on it and we have and we have this tragedy and the focus has to be that we have accountability,” Norton said.

The protesters were also demanding the Regional Executive Officer (REO) call a meeting of the Regional Democratic Council so that the elected councilors can elect a regional chairman and vice chairman for Region 10.

There has been no meeting of the council since last October when the first attempt at electing the regional officials ended in a tie. The REO has called no other meeting of the council since then.

Opposition Leader Azruddin Mohammed, who was among those at the protest scene, said the government is taking the people of the country for granted.

“The people of Region 10 voted overwhelmingly for WIN and I must represent them, that’s why I am here to ensure this dictatorship government reconvenes the meeting and instruct their REO so that we can elect our regional chairman. We will not sit back and allow the Government to ride us, they will be met with protest wherever they go,” he said.