Social commentator GHK Lall has called not for the resignation of Public Works Minister Juan Edghill, but for the removal of the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government, arguing that the MV Barima disaster is the culmination of years of failed leadership, poor decision-making and a culture of denial that cost more than 100 Guyanese their lives.
In two opinion pieces published in Village Voice News on July 20 and July 22, Lall rejected mounting public calls for Edghill’s dismissal, insisting that focusing on one minister ignores what he believes is the real source of responsibility.
“The clamour is thunderous: EDGHILL MUST GO! I say NO!” Lall wrote. “The people who put Minister Juan Edghill where he is must go. The people who kept Minister Edghill there must go.”
The MV Barima, an 87-year-old ferry built in 1939, sank on July 18 after transmitting a distress signal near Iron Punt in the Pomeroon River while carrying passengers from Georgetown to Port Kaituma. The tragedy has become the deadliest maritime disaster in Guyana’s history, prompting national mourning and multiple investigations.
The sinking has also intensified scrutiny of the Government after procurement documents surfaced showing the vessel had significant structural deficiencies and was scheduled for dry docking later this year. At the same time, questions continue over why its intended replacement—the US$12.7 million MV Ma Liska, purchased in 2023—remains out of service while undergoing extensive rehabilitation.
Lall argued that Edghill became the public face of a disaster created by decisions made much higher up the political chain.
According to him, had President Irfaan Ali been present during the crisis, the minister would never have been left to defend the Government’s position.
Instead, Edghill dismissed reports of overloading and engine problems as “fake news” and “mischief” before later disclosures appeared to contradict those early statements.
“He did what had become normalized in the PPP Govt. Denied. Deflected. Denounced. Dismissed.”
Although Lall said he could pardon the minister’s “overzealousness,” he argued there could be no excuse for the Government’s failure to commission the MV Ma Liska while an ageing ferry remained in frontline service.
Referring to tender documents detailing extensive repairs to the replacement vessel, Lall questioned whether Guyana had been sold what he described as “a pig in a bag.”
“Guyana didn’t get a new boat,” he wrote. “Not with that many repair areas and systems needing replacement or revitalizing.”
He went further, questioning whether the vessel had been stripped before delivery and arguing that its prolonged absence from service left the MV Barima carrying passengers it should never have been carrying.
“When the MV Ma Liska couldn’t pull its own weight, then the already sickly, rickety, MV Barima was deadweight in the most fatal meaning of the word.”
Lall called for those involved in the procurement of the replacement ferry to be held accountable and suggested Guyana should seek reimbursement if the vessel was delivered in the condition reflected in the rehabilitation documents.
His criticism, however, extended well beyond procurement.
Writing two days after the tragedy, Lall described the sinking as “Guyana’s Titanic,” contrasting the desperation of passengers fighting for survival with what he portrayed as political leaders preoccupied with celebrations elsewhere.
“There was tragedy on the water. Ecstasy on land,” he wrote.
He also questioned whether the promised investigations would deliver accountability or simply become another official exercise with no meaningful consequences.
“There will be a fund. There will be some examining to unearth the truths that sank the MV Barima,” he wrote before adding, “Those who believe them should have their own heads examined.”
For Lall, the ferry disaster has become a symbol of broader governance failures in a country experiencing unprecedented oil wealth while, in his view, critical public infrastructure continues to deteriorate.
“The MV Barima is Guyana’s Titanic in political technicolor,” he wrote. “What was unsinkable went down. What is impregnable in Guyana will collapse. Under the weight of its governance.”
He concluded that removing Edghill would merely create the appearance of accountability while leaving untouched the leadership he believes bears ultimate responsibility for the tragedy.
“Keep Minister Edghill right where he is,” Lall wrote. “So that Guyanese always remember him for the 100+ citizens who died, but should never have. The ones above him should go.”
Lall ended with his most sweeping political indictment, arguing that the disaster should become a referendum on the Government itself rather than on one minister.
Drawing a historical parallel to Britain’s Profumo Affair, which contributed to the fall of Harold Macmillan’s government in the 1960s, he wrote: “In 1960s England, a sex scandal dispatched the MacMillan government. In 2026 Guyana, 100+ Guyanese die in a mass killing, and the PPP Government resists going.”
