Author: jkmcallister1962

Nearly three months after the MV Barima capsized off the Essequibo Coast, the Presidential Commission of Inquiry into the disaster will begin oral hearings on Wednesday, October 14, at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre. More than 100 witnesses are expected to testify. Many families of the dead and missing say they still have little faith that they will get answers.

The state-owned ferry, run by the Transport and Harbours Department, left Georgetown at about 3:20 p.m. on July 18, 2026, bound for Port Kaituma. Officials say it was carrying about 179 passengers and crew, far more than the 116 passengers and 16 crew on its official manifest. The Air Traffic Control Centre at Timehri received a distress signal at 10:43 p.m. According to the Prime Minister’s own timeline to the National Assembly, the first five survivors were not rescued until 2:27 a.m., about three and a half hours later. Seventy-six people survived. More than 70 died, and dozens remain unaccounted for. It is the worst maritime disaster in Guyana’s history.

President Dr. Irfaan Ali set up the Commission under the Commissions of Inquiry Act. Its five members are all from outside Guyana:

• Chairman Justice Godfrey Phillip Smith of Belize, CARICOM High-Level Representative for Law and Criminal Justice
• Dr. Andrzej Jasionowski of Poland, a naval architect and marine engineer
• Captain Hamada Fouda of the Maritime Authority of Jamaica
• Attorney-at-Law Nyree Dawn Alfonso of Trinidad and Tobago, a specialist in admiralty and maritime law
• Rear Admiral (Ret’d) Hayden Pritchard of Trinidad and Tobago

The Commission’s mandate is broad. It must establish the facts and the sequence of events, and determine the immediate, contributing and systemic causes. It must also assess compliance with legal and safety requirements, review the search, rescue and recovery effort, recommend accountability where warranted, and propose maritime safety reforms. Its terms say the inquiry extends beyond a safety investigation to “public accountability, institutional performance and reform.” The President pledged the “administrative, technical, financial and logistical support necessary” for its work.

No findings have been made yet. The Commission was first given two months, but its Secretary, Javed Shadick, said this will be extended. Justice Smith says the work is expected to take about six months, after which the report goes to the President.

There is already a legal complication. The captain, Kevin Price, chief mate Rondell Dwayne Roberts and goods superintendent Delon Granderson have been charged with murder. Justice Smith said the Commission “definitely will want to hear from them.” If their lawyers advise them not to speak, he said, “it is beyond the powers of this Commission of Inquiry to do anything about that.” The timing invites hard questions. Charging the very crew whose testimony matters most could be seen by many as a deliberate move to undermine the Commission’s ability to get to the truth.

For the families, the biggest grievance is the wreck itself, which still lies on the seabed. Relatives have protested outside the Office of the President for weeks. “We still have loved ones that never came home,” one relative said. At a meeting with the commissioners on October 7, families learned for the first time that BK International had been chosen to salvage the vessel. The tender board later confirmed the contract was awarded on a “no cure, no pay” basis. Several relatives openly expressed no confidence in the inquiry. So did the Leader of the PNCR.

This publication believes the families are right to insist that the truth, and their loved ones, cannot be left at the bottom of the sea. A credible inquiry needs the evidence on that boat. Guyana owes these families more than another report that gathers dust. It owes them answers, accountability and real reform.

Do you have confidence in the MV Barima Commission of Inquiry? Tell us in the comments below.

GEORGETOWN, Guyana, October 2026 — Robert Herman Orlando Corbin, who led the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) for a decade and served as Guyana’s Leader of the Opposition, died on Sunday, October 4, 2026, at the Georgetown Public Hospital. He was 78. His brother, Charles Corbin, confirmed his passing.

Known widely as “RHO,” Corbin was born in Linden on February 15, 1948. His political life spanned more than five decades. He began in the party’s youth arm, serving as National Chairman of the Young Socialist Movement in the 1970s, and quickly rose to the party’s Central Executive. Over the years he held the posts of Parliamentary Secretary, government minister, General Secretary of the party and, from 1985 to 1992, Deputy Prime Minister. His time as Deputy Prime Minister ended when the PNC lost the 1992 elections.

Corbin became party leader after the death of Desmond Hoyte in December 2002 and was confirmed in the post in February 2003. He led the PNCR and served as Leader of the Opposition until July 2012, when David Granger succeeded him. His leadership was tested after the party’s disappointing result in the 2006 elections.

His party credits him with one legacy above others: pushing the PNCR toward coalition politics. In a joint statement, the PNCR and APNU said he helped steer the party toward the partnerships that later produced the APNU+AFC coalition’s victory in 2015. They described him as “astute, loyal, disciplined and hardworking,” and called his death an “irreplaceable loss.” Outside active politics, Corbin practised law. The party said that even during his illness he kept offering advice to the organisation. The statement extended condolences to his wife, Carol, his children, other relatives, colleagues and friends. It closed: “May his soul rest in peace as we continue to benefit from his lasting contributions to our Party and Guyana.”

The tributes crossed party lines. President Dr. Irfaan Ali, leader of the governing PPP/C, called Corbin a “political stalwart” and noted that “as a former Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Government and longstanding Member of Parliament, Mr. Corbin occupied a place of prominence in public life.” The President extended “sincere condolences to Mr. Corbin’s family and loved ones, to the leadership and membership of the People’s National Congress, and to its supporters throughout Guyana and the diaspora.”

Corbin’s career covered some of the most contested chapters in Guyana’s political history, and Guyanese will judge those years differently. This publication believes his death is a moment to honour a long life given to public service, and to reflect honestly on the record of the era he helped shape. His argument that no single party can carry this country alone may be his most lasting contribution. It is a lesson Guyana’s politics still struggles to learn.

Funeral arrangements had not been announced at the time of publication.

This publication extends its condolences to the Corbin family. How do you remember Robert Corbin and his place in Guyana’s political story?