Dear Editor,
On 10th August, I embarked on an unforgettable adventure with MV MA Lisha (new ferry). Here were some of my experiences on board. Having purchased my ticket the day before, I arrived at the ship around 2 pm. Hundreds of passengers were already at the ship waiting hours to board. A great number of them didn’t have tickets and were told tickets were sold out.
A lot of the travelers thought they could buy tickets on the same day of travel. Fortunately for some of them, they were able to get on board. I am not sure how they did it. As they were able to board, it created problems for the passengers who had tickets.
This led to having more passengers than seats, which led to some passengers sitting two in a seat and others sitting in vehicles, on the floors and standing outside on the bow. Even though I paid for the most expensive (premium) ticket, yours truly ending up sitting on a primitive floor with other passengers.
As passengers waited hours to depart, due to the stifling heat, they felt as if they were on fire, especially the babies and elderly women.
And while the passengers longed for water to quench their thirst, they were given balloons to let up in the air in celebration of the new ferry’s odyssey.
Editor, I don’t know if the balloons were supposed to have some spiritual, magical, supernatural or miraculous way to quench their thirst.
Editor, the passengers needed water not balloons.
And while the passengers waited hours to board, they faced: exposure, dehydration, stress and hunger. Children, infants, pregnant women and the elderly were dehydrating. The time for the ship to depart came and went. Now they were waiting on Guyana’s time.
Editor, why couldn’t the staff let the elderly women and infants on board early like the airline industry does?
As I continued to wait, I wanted to know what was preventing the passengers from boarding. The answer came. They were waiting for Minister Edghill.
He arrived 4pm. By that time passengers were already waiting hours to board. Upon arriving, the minister went on the ship and so the passengers were immediately permitted to board. They started boarding 4.07 pm. Departure time was originally 4 pm. We departed 510 pm. Not late, Guyana’s time.
The Minister went with us to the Northwest.
Having been on many cruise ships before, I was expecting an emergency safety briefing. On the cruise ship, the passengers are always given a safety briefing in the event of an emergency. There was no safety briefing. I didn’t see any lifeboat on board.
At one point, the engine stopped running, and the ship was not moving. The staff just let down the anchor to stop the ship from drifting. The passengers were saying that the water was low. How can water be low in the ocean after we had been traveling over an hour? I am glad the minister was on board to witness this.
Editor, I always travel with my life jacket so I immediately put on my life jacket. No one was wearing a life jacket. No one brought their life jacket. The captain doesn’t tell the passengers what is happening. In other countries, the captain would inform the passengers what is happening. But our country is not like other country. Then, I remembered that the passengers were not given any safety briefing.
Yours faithfully,
(Name and address provided)
