“Safety of Guyanese population is our absolute priority” – MARAD Director

By: Amar Persaud

Director General of the Maritime Administration Department (MARAD) Stephen Thomas has revealed that they will be developing a new design for water taxis that operate across the country.
During a recent interview with this publication, Thomas explained that safety is MARAD’s priority. He added that the new designs will not only increase safety but comfort for passengers a

s well.
“With respect to maritime safety, we continue to strive to improve so that persons travelling on all the waterways especially like the water taxis, aka speed boats; their safety, of course, is an absolute priority.”
“And what we’re working on, we’re even developing this year, a new boat concept; a new design for these boats to enhance safety and comfort and sanitation.”
“We still want to take it to another level, sturdier construction and these things. So, that’s one of the things we’re crafting out.”
Thomas further stated that the designs will have to be examined and tested before they are implemented. However, he noted that it will be rolled out long before 2025.
“That’s on our plans for this year. We’re hoping that we can get the design completed this year. [Then] we have to test the design and things like that.”
The Director General went on to add that they will be looking at the largest size of these taxis first – those that traverse the Demerara River, then other designs will be implemented at other locations.

“It will be for all the passenger services. Demerara has the biggest size of boats because this has the largest number of persons. So, by default basically, we’ll be looking at Demerara first then the others would spin-off that. But in the entire country, we’re looking to up the standard.”
“Safety of Guyanese population is our absolute priority and the public should feel assured that these boats don’t operate inline, they have regulatory agency, you have any issues with them, we have a website and they surely contact us on infringement or even with other ship,” the MARAD Head stressed.

Navigation aids
Meanwhile, Thomas further revealed that on the issue of safety, a number of navigation aid devices will be installed in Guyana’s waterways this year, which will allow ships to better navigate at night.
These aid devices will include a number of buoys and beacons that will be installed in Guyana’s main river channels that were without these devices for a number of years.
“Georgetown which is the main port and the Demerara being the principal channel we always have to have maintained, because ships have to go day and night and we have significant traffic in the Demerara, we always have to have that fully maintained all the lights and beacons and everything and which we do.”
“The buoys and beacons have been missing from Essequibo for many, many years, all of them, so this we would be, so in this year budget which will be doing, we’re going to be constructing about 20 beacons in the Essequibo River coupled with that we’re going to be placing like about the same amount of buoys in the Essequibo River so persons can enter the Essequibo day and night,” he said.
The Director General stated that buoys and beacons are also to be installed in areas such as the Waini channel which the new North West Ferry that is being built in India and is expected to be in Guyana by the latter half of this year, will utilise.
“We also would be establishing a series of beacons and place some buoys in the Pomeroon River, they were missing again for decades and we will be doing it this year. The same for the North West with the Waini, we’re constructing I think 4 or 5 beacons in that area. Like I said, it is necessary because ships go there so they need its navigation.”
“And we have the new ferry that the Indian Government has helped fund for Guyana. It is being built in India, that is scheduled to be here in the latter part of the year and we want a brand-new ferry to operate in a brand-new marked channel and so we’re developing that aggressively.”
These devices are expected to be installed by the end of this year.
He added that one of the said beacons has already been installed last year in the Berbice channel.
“In 2021 we constructed for the Berbice channel, a concrete beacon, that the first time we’ve built such a beacon here in Guyana on the coast, and we’ve made it higher so it can be seen from a further distance.As you know Berbice has been touted to be the platform for the deep-water port, so the channel will have to be dredged further out.”