The government has begun strengthening compliance with standard operating procedures across the country’s ferry service following the sinking of the MV Barima, Prime Minister Brigadier (Ret’d) Mark Phillips announced, stressing that the measures are being implemented while other ferry routes continue to operate.
Speaking on the Jump Start radio programme on Friday, the Prime Minister said immediate action is being taken to ensure stricter adherence to existing ticketing and passenger management procedures after it was confirmed that individuals boarded the MV Barima without being ticketed.
Prime Minister Phillips said a review of CCTV footage from the departure stelling established that 179 people were on board the vessel when it sank. The footage was examined overnight by a team of officials, with the Prime Minister also participating in the review.
He explained that the independent Commission of Inquiry being established will investigate how the discrepancies between the official passenger manifest and the actual number of passengers were allowed to occur at the Transport and Harbours Department (T&HD).
In the meantime, he said efforts are focused on ensuring that ferry operators fully comply with existing standard operating procedures so that passenger manifests accurately reflect everyone on board.
The Prime Minister said maintaining accurate manifests is critical to ensuring effective search and rescue operations in the event of future emergencies.