Guyana Case Against MV Barima Captain And Crew Adjourned To September 7th

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By NAN Staff Writer, NewsAmericas Now

News Americas, GEORGETOWN, Guyana, Mon. Aug. 3, 2026: The murder case against the captain and two crew members of the MV Barima has been adjourned to September 7th, after a Guyanese magistrate ruled the Charity Magistrate’s Court’s limited sitting schedule left no earlier date available for the prosecution to complete disclosure to the defense.

Captain Kevin “KP” Price, 40, Chief Mate Rondell Dwayne Roberts, 42, and Goods Superintendent Delon Granderson, 33, appeared by Zoom before Magistrate Ravindra Mohabir at the Charity Magistrate’s Court. The three are jointly charged with 72 counts of murder in connection with the July 18 sinking that killed at least 72 people, with more than 30 others still missing and presumed dead.

Prosecutor Mandel Moore told the court he now holds a fiat, the formal written authorization required to prosecute the matter, and confirmed partial disclosure had already been provided to the defense. Moore requested an adjournment to August 31 to complete full disclosure, but the magistrate noted the Charity Magistrate’s Court only sits on Mondays, pushing the next available date to September 7.

Price and Granderson are represented by attorney Dexter Smartt, alongside a legal team that includes Dexter Todd. Attorney Everton Lammy-Singh represents Roberts.

A charge that continues to draw criticism

Defense lawyers, legal commentators, and the political opposition have criticized the decision to file murder charges before the search for the missing has concluded and before the international Commission of Inquiry has begun its work. Police have maintained the charges followed legal advice from Director of Public Prosecutions Shalimar Ali-Hack, who has said her recommendation was based on the evidence presented, relevant principles of law, and case law authorities drawn from the United Kingdom, Commonwealth jurisdictions, and the European Court of Human Rights, along with public policy considerations.

Protesters rally for the accused

On Sunday night, family members, friends, and residents gathered outside Roberts’ home in Grove, East Bank Demerara, in a solidarity protest arguing the murder charges were used to shield senior government officials from accountability. Demonstrators carried placards reading “Transparency and accountability,” “Free Rondell, Dellon and Kevin,” and “Justice for these three men. Families need closure.”

One protester voiced support for the government’s decision to proceed with salvaging the MV Barima rather than converting the wreck site, roughly nine miles offshore, into a memorial, arguing physical evidence from the vessel itself is needed before the case, and the broader investigation, can move forward.

The opposition WIN party has called for a protest on Tuesday, August 4, at 9:00 a.m. in front of Watooka House, Linden.

NewsAmericasNow will continue following the case as it proceeds toward its September 7 hearing.

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Guyana Is Leaving Millions On The Table With Exxon While It Searches For A Company To Salvage The MV Barima

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By NAN Business Editor, News Americas

News Americas, WASHINGTON, D.C., Mon. Aug. 3, 2026: As Guyana’s Maritime Administration Department scrambles to find a qualified contractor to pull the MV Barima from the ocean floor, the government is sitting on a separate, far larger unresolved account: millions of dollars in disputed ExxonMobil cost-oil audits that the International Monetary Fund says Guyana needs to stop letting drag on.

The contrast is hard to ignore. On one hand, a government asking marine salvage companies to submit proposals limited to ten pages, on a deadline more than three weeks out, just to recover a ferry that killed at least 73 people and left 30 more missing and presumed dead. On the other, a government that has allowed a years-long dispute over Exxon’s own cost accounting to sit unresolved, even as the IMF’s latest Article IV mission all but pleaded with Guyanese officials to move faster.

The Exxon money still on the table

An audit conducted by IHS Markit, covering the period 1999 to 2017, found $214.4 million in Exxon-claimed costs that were either ineligible for cost recovery or lacked adequate supporting documentation. A second audit, covering a later period and carried out by SGS in partnership with Martindale Consultants and Guyanese firms Ramdihal and Haynes, Eclisar Financial and Vitality Accounting and Consultancy, remains under review.

In its Staff Concluding Statement released Friday, the IMF urged Guyana to resolve both disputes “in a timely manner,” including through arbitration where necessary, citing “important fiscal and governance implications.” The Fund also called on Guyana to keep strengthening its capacity to audit its own rapidly expanding oil and gas sector, and separately pushed for stronger public procurement practices as government spending continues to climb.

That is real money potentially owed to a country that just weeks ago couldn’t get a $12.7 million replacement ferry into service after three years, and is now asking private companies to volunteer for the job of recovering the vessel that killed dozens because the government’s own agencies weren’t positioned to do it themselves.

The salvage search, under pressure

MARAD’s Expression of Interest notice, issued Saturday, came only after intensifying pressure: swelling protests from civil society activists, University of Guyana students, and the political opposition, following the swearing-in of the five-member international Commission of Inquiry. Opposition Leader Azruddin Mohamed credited the reversal directly to public pressure. “The Government has finally buckled under the pressure of the people,” he said. “This is a victory for every citizen who refused to remain silent.”

But Mohamed also flagged what the August 14 deadline actually means: it is only the deadline for companies to submit proposals, not for the salvage itself to begin. At that pace, he warned, the vessel may not actually be recovered until sometime in September, nearly two months after it went down.

Contractors are being asked to detail how they’ll protect forensic evidence for the Commission’s investigation while working in near-zero visibility, strong currents, and 13 to 15 meters of water, some 28 nautical miles off Guyana’s coast. French military divers who assisted in the earlier search and recovery effort had already reported zero visibility and a maze of ropes and hammocks trapped inside the sunken vessel.

The same pattern, different ledger

Whether it’s a multimillion-dollar oil dispute or a $12.7 million ferry sitting idle for three years, the through-line is the same: money and resources Guyana has access to, or is owed, not being pursued or deployed with urgency, while ordinary Guyanese, and now grieving families, pay the price of the delay. The IMF’s own language, that these audits carry “important fiscal and governance implications,” could just as easily describe the government’s handling of its own maritime infrastructure over the past three years.

NewsAmericasNow will continue tracking both the salvage operation and Guyana’s response to the IMF’s findings.

RELATED: The Guyana Ferry Disaster Is The Caribbean’s Worst Since 1970

When The Church Speaks: The Transformational Power Of Communications

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By Dr. Isaac Newton

News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Sun. August 2, 2026: When the Church speaks, people listen. Do they encounter clarity or confusion, hope or hesitation, Christ or merely activity through that voice? In Scripture, the herald did not create the message. The herald prepared people to recognize the arrival of the King. That sacred responsibility remains essential today and speaks directly to the work of the Communications Director. The role extends far beyond announcing events, recording worship services, managing digital platforms, or producing publications. Christian communication is part of the Church’s witness. “Faith comes by hearing” (Romans 10:17), reminding us that words have the power to shape belief, strengthen trust, and awaken transformation. Every message leaves a mark. It teaches people what matters, reveals what the Church values, and influences how communities understand God’s mission.

The Communications Director stands at one of the most influential intersections in the life of the Church: the place where mission becomes message, vision becomes understanding, and truth becomes lived experience. Research in leadership, journalism, and organizational communication demonstrates that trust grows through accuracy, transparency, consistency, and genuine listening. The Church operates within the same human reality. Every sermon summary, testimony, photograph, interview, podcast, website update, crisis response, and digital message contributes to the public witness of God’s people. Success cannot be reduced to engagement numbers, audience size, or online visibility. The deeper measure is transformation. Faith grows stronger. Families discover hope. Young people find belonging. Communities encounter the character of Christ through a Church that communicates with wisdom, humility, and conviction.

Across the Caribbean, where churches have historically been woven into the social and spiritual fabric of communities, communication has unique significance. The Church is not speaking into an empty space. It is speaking into homes, villages, cities, schools, workplaces, and a global Caribbean diaspora connected across continents. A generation shaped by digital culture is searching for authenticity, meaning, and belonging. This moment requires Communications Directors who understand that communication is not simply the delivery of information. It shapes identity, builds trust, and forms community. They must discover stories that reveal God’s activity rather than simply report programmes. They must listen carefully to members, visitors, young adults, and communities because listening often reveals what statistics cannot see. They must embrace artificial intelligence, emerging technologies, and digital innovation with wisdom, ensuring that tools serve the mission and never replace the message.

The herald’s responsibility was never merely to announce that a King was coming. The herald prepared people to recognize the King when He arrived. That is the sacred calling of Christian communication. The Communications Director helps the Church speak with a voice that reflects the character of Christ: truthful enough to build trust, compassionate enough to heal, courageous enough to stand for conviction, and hopeful enough to inspire faith. A Church’s enduring witness is not measured by the announcements it publishes, the magazines it prints, the videos it uploads, or the size of its online following. Its true measure is found in the lives drawn closer to Christ, the confidence strengthened in God’s Word, and the hope awakened in human hearts. The Church does not communicate because it merely has something to say. The Church communicates because it has Someone to reveal. When its voice reflects God’s character, communication becomes more than a ministry tool. It becomes an instrument of transformation.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Dr. Isaac Newton is a leadership strategist, governance scholar, and author specializing in institutional excellence, ethical leadership, and human development. Educated at the University of the Southern Caribbean, Oakwood University, Princeton, Columbia, and Harvard, he writes on leadership, governance, and the development of people and institutions. He is the author of Fix It Preacher, Face Life Squarely, and Intimate Intimacy; coauthor of Steps to Good Governance and Daring to Hope; and coauthor of the forthcoming works When Nations Kneel and The Belief Code.

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When The Law Stands Taller Than Power: The CCJ’s Defining Moment For Caribbean Democracy

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By Dr. Isaac Newton

News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Sun. Aug. 2, 2026: Some judgments settle disputes. Others leave a mark on history. The Caribbean Court of Justice’s (CCJ) decision in the Azruddin Mohamed and Nasar Mohamed extradition matter belongs to the second category because its significance reaches far beyond the individuals before the Court. At its core, the ruling speaks to one of democracy’s oldest and most important commitments: power must answer to law. The CCJ did not decide guilt or innocence, and it did not determine the final destination of the extradition request. It addressed a more fundamental issue: whether the legal process had begun lawfully. The Court’s answer was decisive. The process may continue because the rule of law must move forward with independence, consistency, and integrity.

The brilliance of the judgment lies in its clarity about the roles of public institutions. The Court recognized that each institution has a specific responsibility in protecting justice. The government may begin an extradition process when the law allows it, but the courts must ultimately decide whether the evidence and legal requirements justify the next step. This separation is not a barrier to justice; it is the safeguard that makes justice trustworthy. It prevents political authority from becoming unlimited power and ensures that every person, regardless of status or influence, remains within the reach of the law.

The Court’s handling of claims of bias offers one of the most important lessons from the case. In matters involving political figures, public attention can become intense and emotions can become powerful. Yet the justice system cannot be guided by speculation, pressure, or popularity. The CCJ reaffirmed a timeless judicial principle: serious claims require serious proof. Public confidence is not created when courts deliver the outcomes people expect. It is created when courts demonstrate independence, apply consistent standards, and explain their reasoning with honesty and discipline. The credibility of justice is built in difficult moments, not comfortable ones.

For Guyana and the wider Caribbean, this decision carries significance beyond one extradition proceeding. Small states often navigate extraordinary challenges where politics, international relationships, economic interests, and public accountability intersect. In such moments, the strength of a nation is revealed by the character of its institutions. A democracy matures when its courts can examine powerful people, when governments can act within legal boundaries, and when citizens can trust that the same rules apply across society. The CCJ has reinforced a regional message of lasting importance: public office may bring responsibility, but it cannot create exemption from lawful scrutiny.

Decades from now, the details of this controversy may fade, but the principle affirmed by the Court will remain. Great institutions are not defined by the absence of difficult cases; they are defined by the courage to handle difficult cases with fairness and principle. The CCJ’s judgment is therefore more than a legal decision. It is a statement about the kind of Caribbean society that future generations deserve: one where justice is not shaped by wealth, position, or political power, but guided by truth, evidence, and law. The true legacy of this moment will not be measured by the individuals who stood at the center of the controversy, but by the enduring strength of the principle it affirmed: in a free society, no name is greater than the law, no position is higher than accountability, and no institution has a greater duty than to protect justice itself.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Dr. Isaac Newton is a leadership strategist, governance scholar, and author specializing in institutional excellence, ethical leadership, and human development. Educated at the University of the Southern Caribbean, Oakwood University, Princeton, Columbia, and Harvard, he writes on leadership, governance, and the development of people and institutions. He is the author of Fix It Preacher, Face Life Squarely, and Intimate Intimacy; coauthor of Steps to Good Governance and Daring to Hope; and coauthor of the forthcoming works When Nations Kneel and The Belief Code.

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