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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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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By Albert Baldeo

News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Tues. July 28, 2026: Here we go again Guyana. Subservience and intellectual concession to others. Asking others for solutions for problems we already have the answers to, lying right before our eyes. Let’s not be hypocrites. We are, once again, the unwanted focus of the world’s attention with the MV Barima Disaster, the biggest disaster in the Caribbean since 1970.

And before any of you falsely accuse me of being “unpatriotic” or “biased for any political party,” let me tell you that I hold no brief for any political party, or anyone. I am griping only as a patriotic Guyanese-American who cherishes progress and prosperity for ALL Guyanese and am concerned about this ferry tragedy that cost us more than 100 lives. And I was elected, inter alia, as the Diaspora Leader in NY, USA, and as a voice for the people, and would be remiss if I did not articulate their concerns.

While a Commission of Inquiry (COI)is understood, we must implement IMMEDIATE safety checks and fitness certifications for every aircraft, helicopter, passenger vessel, minibus, and all other vehicles, confirming air, sea, land & other travel worthiness to prevent the alarming expansion of tragedies in our native land.

We demand that the investigation also focus on why, inter alia, the replacement vessel, purchased from India at a cost of US$12.7 million, and which arrived in Guyana in April 2023. It was dedicated only to “party cruises for the higher-ups,” did not replace the eighty-seven-year-old M.V. Barima-which, for generations, has been the lifeline of the North-West District, carrying passengers, produce, fuel and goods between Georgetown and Port Kaituma- and whether discrimination of the indigenous Amerindians played a part in this.

OVERSIGHT

Many are afraid to speak up in Guyana, so we have to be their voice-or this cycle of recurring failures, deaths, injustice and tragedy will continue to plague Guyana. I have also convened a Leadership, Oversight, Reform, Accountability Committee, with jurisdiction in both Guyana and the Diaspora, to ensure this is done NOW. 

The crew, passengers, rescue personnel, soldiers, divers, health workers, volunteers, and residents of the river communities who assisted in the rescue and recovery efforts must be consulted, and reforms and systems must be implemented immediately across the board.

The President and Cabinet must convene in an informal, public setting and flesh out all credible information. Not many of these hinterland folks will testify before a COI, for fear of retribution, liability, and possible incrimination. We must also be reminded that the Coroners Act Chapter 4:03 mandates that there be judicial inquiries to answer five core questions on these unnatural deaths: who the deceased are, and how, when, where, and under what circumstances they died.

The Guyanese people cannot wait on any Commission to “recommend legislative, regulatory, institutional and operational reforms to strengthen maritime safety, improve emergency preparedness and reduce the likelihood of similar tragedies in the future.” We owe it to our citizens and others to do so now!

We already know also about the “full circumstances surrounding the disaster, including the causes of the capsizing; reviewing the loading of the vessel, passenger boarding procedures, and onboard conditions; and examining the search, rescue and recovery operations to assess the adequacy, coordination and effectiveness of the response by all agencies involved.” We can take public and judicial notice of information that emerged contemporaneously after the tragedy and let our conscience be our guide.

The other terms of the Commission to “also evaluate compliance with maritime laws and operating procedures, determine whether any negligence, misconduct or dereliction of duty contributed to the tragedy, inspect the vessel’s maintenance history and seaworthiness, assess the influence of weather and other environmental factors, examine the qualifications and conduct of the captain and crew, and scrutinize passenger management, including the vessel’s manifest, possible overcrowding, cargo stowage, and the availability and use of life-saving equipment,” are also moot. Everyone knows what happened.

We don’t need armchair pontificators and post-mortems to divert from taking immediate action, reforms, and genuine resolve to take the place of government’s immediate responsibilities-from top to bottom. Certainly, not another whitewash of our fundamental and constitutional right to travel, work, leisure, exist, and other rights, all of which have been impacted by this tragedy. This tragedy deserves nothing less.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Albert Baldeo is a Guyana-born, Queens-based Community Leader.

RELATED: Could MV Barima Victims Sue The Guyana Government For Negligence? Here’s What The Law Says

By Dr. Isaac Newton

News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Sun. July 26, 2026: The Caribbean’s greatest challenge has never been a shortage of intelligence. It has been a shortage of institutions capable of recognizing brilliance, trusting excellence, and multiplying leadership. This is the Law of Multiplication: institutions ultimately become whatever they choose to multiply. Those that multiply wisdom outlive their founders. Those that multiply character outlast their crises. Those that multiply leaders outlast their generations. Those that multiply power eventually discover that power cannot preserve itself.

This law explains far more than the Caribbean’s struggles. It explains the rise and decline of civilizations, governments, universities, businesses, churches, and families. Institutional decay rarely begins with shrinking budgets, declining membership, or external opposition. It begins when stewardship silently gives way to self-preservation. Familiarity starts outranking competence. Proximity overshadows perspective. Preservation displaces progress. Loyalty becomes more valuable than learning. Questions become unwelcome because they threaten certainty. Excellence is admired from a distance yet resisted when it arrives close enough to reshape established patterns. At that moment, institutions stop preparing for tomorrow and begin negotiating with yesterday.

The tragedy is not that gifted people are scarce. They never have been. Across the Caribbean, each generation produces visionary educators, principled pastors, courageous entrepreneurs, gifted scholars, creative artists, thoughtful public servants, and innovative professionals. Yet too often, the region celebrates excellence after others have already recognized its value. The challenge has never been discovering talent. It has been cultivating cultures mature enough to recognize excellence before it becomes famous, courageous enough to trust it before it becomes popular, and generous enough to release it before it becomes indispensable. Great institutions are distinguished less by the talent they attract than by the futures they create through the talent they faithfully steward.

Nowhere is this principle more consequential than within communities of faith. Scripture never portrays leadership as ownership. It portrays leadership as stewardship. Moses prepared Joshua. Elijah prepared Elisha. Jesus formed disciples who transformed the world. Paul invested deeply in Timothy and Titus. The Kingdom advanced because faithful leaders refused to confuse stewardship with possession. God never entrusted authority as a private privilege. He entrusted it as a sacred responsibility. Whenever elections become more sacred than justice, silence more comfortable than courage, and influence more valuable than integrity, the church slowly begins to resemble the culture it was commissioned to transform instead of the Kingdom it was called to reveal.

ILLUSION

The most dangerous illusion in leadership is the belief that significance grows by becoming indispensable. The opposite is true. Leadership reaches its highest expression when institutions become stronger because of a leader rather than weaker without one. Lasting influence is measured not by dependence but by development, not by followers gathered but by leaders formed. The finest legacy is not remembrance. It is replacement. Institutions flourish when those who come next are wiser, stronger, and better prepared than those who came before.

Renewal therefore requires more than structural reform. It demands moral imagination and institutional courage. Healthy organizations cultivate cultures where character outranks charisma, evidence outranks opinion, mentoring outranks gatekeeping, truth outranks comfort, and succession outranks self-preservation. Transparent evaluation becomes routine. Lifelong learning becomes expected. Independent accountability becomes normal. Emerging leaders are identified long before vacancies appear. Such institutions do not merely adapt to change. They become trusted authors of it.

No constitution can repeal this law. No election can suspend it. No tradition can permanently outlive it. Institutions may postpone its consequences for a season, but none has ever escaped them. History patiently waits until multiplication stops. Decline then becomes only a matter of time.

The defining question for the Caribbean is therefore neither political nor economic. It is civilizational. What will we choose to multiply? Power or wisdom? Positions or people? Titles or trust? Preservation or stewardship?

History has never granted permanence to power. It has reserved permanence for wisdom faithfully multiplied. Long after offices are vacated, elections forgotten, and names fade from memory, institutions will bear the imprint of what they chose to cultivate. The Caribbean’s enduring legacy will not be determined by the authority it accumulated, but by the wisdom it multiplied into generations yet to come.

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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