“This brand new” - COI shown revamped THD Kingston wharf after Barima tragedy

(Kaieteur News) – On Thursday morning, members of the Commission of Inquiry (COI) investigating the MV Barima tragedy descended upon the Transport and Harbours Department (THD) Kingston Wharf for a scheduled on-site inspection. What greeted the delegation of officials, maritime auditors, and media practitioners was a scene of pristine order and swift upgrades, a contrast to the historical realities described by staff who have laboured at the facility for years.

The Kingston Wharf serves as the departure point for ferries plying the North West route, including the MV Barima, which departed from that very site on 18th July prior to its deadly voyage. During the walk-through, commissioners inspected the cargo bond, the passenger waiting room, and vessels currently docked at the facility, including the MV MaLisha and the MV Kimbia. Jamaica-based maritime expert and compliance auditor Captain Hamada Fouda, one of five commissioners conducting the probe, was observed examining the exterior and interior of the MV Malisha while colleagues reviewed operational facilities. He was seen on more than one occasions taking photographs and notes of the rusted and broken sections of the vessel. Throughout the tour, members of the Commission frequently remarked on the seemingly immaculate conditions. Inspecting a weighing scale on the wharf, one commissioner remarked aloud “This is brand new.”

However, photographic evidence and eyewitness accounts from the ground suggest that the scene presented to the Commission was a hastily assembled veneer. Photographs captured during a prior media visit on 4th August, as the MV Malisha prepared to leave Georgetown, show a waiting area and wharf perimeter devoid of the infrastructure, and paved surfaces visible today.