Edghill warns against water taxis plying Essequibo River at night

Public Works Minister Juan Edghill has made it clear that water taxis operating in the Essequibo River are only allowed to operate during daylight hours since these vessels are not built to navigate at night.

This comment surfaced as he was responding to requests for night vision goggles to be provided to water taxi operators. The Minister explained that currently, the Maritime Administration Department (MARAD) has standard operating times and Government will not condone any activities beyond this period.
“The standard is that water taxis could only operate at daylight. There is a departure time in the morning and an end time to get to the destination. We’re not changing that. Night goggles are not needed because you’re operating during the day. At night, those vessels have to be a different kind of vessel with different kinds of equipment, lighting and different safety standards,” Edghill relayed.
Two weeks ago, the bodies of two persons who were missing after a boat capsized in the Essequibo River, were fished out of the river. The two died after the boat in which they were travelling hit the Rattlesnake Rock in the vicinity of Calf Island, Essequibo River. Rattlesnake Rock is approximately 2.7 kilometres from the Bartica Stelling and 300 metres east of Calf Island.
The mishap occurred sometime between 18:45h and 19:00h – beyond the prescribed timing for the water taxi operation. It was later revealed that while the captain was in possession of a valid licence to operate such a boat, the boat was uncertified and not permitted to operate on the Parika–Bartica passenger service.
Commenting on the situation, Minister within the Public Works Ministry Deodat Indar also expressed that operators should not flout the guidelines intended for their safety and those of the passengers they’re taking.
“Who goes to tell their family that the operator decided to travel in the night and hit a rock? Sometimes it looks like the Government is not regulating but people can’t do their own thing outside of the guidelines that MARAD has. We’re not going to introduce things to accommodate behaviour outside of the prescribed timing. There is a safe time to operate passenger vessels using those speedboats. We’re not going to allow that. That is the position of our Government,” Indar positioned.