The MV Ma Lisha ferry is yet to make its maiden commercial voyage between the North West District, Region One and Georgetown, and according to Minister of Public Works Juan Edghill, the Transport and Harbours Department (T&HD) is working diligently to have the India manufactured vessel operational.
Edghill told this newspaper last week that the stellings at Port Kaituma and Mabaruma are being retrofitted to accommodate the vessel. He did not give a timeline for when the rehabilitative work would be completed.
Head of the T&HD Marcelene Merchant, in response to questions from this newspaper, indicated that the vessel would go into operation as soon as rehabilitation work was completed at Mabaruma. She also noted that work was scheduled to be completed on the Port Kaituma and Kingston wharves.
The Ma Lisha arrived in Guyana in late April and was commissioned by President Irfaan Ali and India’s Minister of External Affairs Dr S Jaishankar. At the commissioning, President Ali had said that the vessel would play an integral role in allowing Region One (Barima-Waini) to be an important link for trade by connecting Guyana with Trinidad and Tobago. It was projected that the vessel would open a pathway to increase food production and economic opportunities.
But two months later with the vessel still not operating, questions are being raised. Critics have said that given the pomp and fanfare which heralded the arrival of the vessel, all systems should have been in place to accommodate its immediate functioning.
Edghill explained that the delay was due to the stellings not being in a state to accommodate the vessel. The Public Works Minister had also explained that while the rehabilitation of the existing stellings is taking place, new stellings to easily accommodate the vessel were being addressed. However, given the length of time the vessel was under construction, critics and observers have pointed out, there was ample time for necessary arrangements and accommodations to be in place since the specifications of the vessel were known ahead of its arrival.
This new ferry has the capacity to accommodate up to 276 passengers, 18 crew members, 14 sedan-type vehicles and two trucks.
The Ma Lisha has a front ramp which can accommodate easy loading and discharging of cargo at ports of call. The vessel also has side boarding capacity.
A total of 19 staff members from the navigation, mechanical and auxiliary departments of the T&HD were trained in India to operate the new ferry.
Meanwhile, Region One Chairman Brentnol Ashley confirmed that upgrading works at the stelling are moving apace to facilitate the operation of the vessel. “Works are being done at Port Kaituma and Mabaruma at the KMC stelling. They are retrofitting the wharves to accommodate this new vessel. It is minor works and the ministry is overseeing it,” he explained.
This newspaper observed work to upgrade the facility being carried out at the Kingston Wharf, where the vessel is currently docked. Concrete piles were being driven for the construction of an extended decking platform.
Meanwhile in the Waini River, a video released by the Maritime Administration Department (MARAD) showed dredging activities taking place in the Port Kaituma basin. The project has been underway for five weeks and Captain Lawrence Clarke explained that they were using a suction system to execute the clearing of the river. At its new depth the channel will easily accommodate the newly built MA Lisha. “The economic gains for local businesses are also expected to be many, as persons shipping produce in and out of Region One will now have access to a cold storage, thereby reducing spoilage. The vessel can also accommodate up to 250 tonnes of cargo,” Edghill had previously stated.
Poor planning
But while the upgrades are taking place, former minister of public infrastructure David Patterson told this newspaper, the situation at hand was as a result of “poor planning and execution.” He said that when the previous administration left office, the vessel had a different design but that was changed by the government after taking office.
“Even if it is not operating on the route it was built for, I expected that they would use it on the Parika/Supenaam route or even the Guyana/Suriname route to have it working. These stellings can accommodate the vessel with the roll- on/roll-off feature,” Patterson said. He stated that by time the vessel was ready to be placed into operation, citizens would likely hear that it has to be serviced. “Again I say it is poor planning and servicing from the ministry because the vessel is just there mothballing…,” he added.
The vessel was procured through an US$18 million grant/line of credit from India, with US$8 million in the form of a grant and US$10 million in a line of credit.
Guyana and India had signed a US$12.7 million contract for the 295-seat, air-conditioned passenger and cargo ferry, which was eventually named Ma Lisha (Warao for word friendship).
At the launch, it was disclosed that the vessel would assist with the government’s macro policy of positioning Guyana as the mainstay in the regional food market.
One of the greatest hindrances in fast-tracking Guyana’s transition to food capital of the region is the transportation system, Ali had said, stressing that once the vessel was in operation opportunities would open up for improved trade between Guyana and Trinidad and other countries in the Caribbean.
He pointed out that the vessel will travel between Region One and Trinidad, a journey of between 11 to 15 hours. This was important, he said, because Region One has the capacity to produce cassava, sweet potato, eddo, yam, turmeric, ginger, and cage-cultured fish that Trinidad and Tobago can utilise.
“This vessel opens up opportunities for food production, value-added food production, and economic opportunities for the people in Region One. We now have the transportation part of that link fixed,” Ali had said. “We can now invest in the processing access so you can move more crab meat into Georgetown to supply hotels; supply the supermarkets. We can have ginger, turmeric brought down to the city to process for export. We can have provisions ready for export and with the direct flight to the UK; it opens up a new market for these products.”
Ali had stressed that the government was spending more than US$5 million to upgrade the port facility at Port Kaituma to regional standards, so that it could be a launching pad to ship directly into Trinidad where there is a highly developed manufacturing and processing industry.
