–MARAD says, emphasises will not compromise safety in response to Mohamed’s claims of political persecution
THE Maritime Administration Department (MARAD) has rejected Opposition Leader Azruddin Mohamed’s claims that its refusal to license his fast craft is politically motivated, declaring in a press release issued Friday that “maritime safety is non-negotiable” and that “no one is entitled to a licence.”
MARAD accused Mohamed of trying “to turn an ordinary question of regulatory compliance into a political controversy” through his public criticism of the agency.
“It must be called out,” the release stated.
MARAD said a maritime licence is not a political favour or a gift, and, “most importantly,” not an entitlement.
Filing an application, it said, does not create an automatic right to one; applicants must first satisfy statutory safety and competency requirements, a standard the department said “applies to everyone— government official, businessman, politician, opposition leader or ordinary citizen.”
“No one is above the law,” the statement said, adding that the circumstances of the case make “the attempt to bully or publicly discredit MARAD particularly troubling.”
The dispute traces back to the night of August 25, when a joint Guyana Defence Force Coast Guard and Police patrol intercepted a go-fast vessel entering the mouth of the Demerara River at high speed.
Officers said the boat was signalled by siren to stop, failed to comply, and was pursued before being intercepted at a wharf at Friendship, East Bank Demerara.
Mohamed was detained after he could not produce the vessel’s registration, certificate of fitness or a captain’s licence, and was released on bail hours later.
MARAD subsequently said its records showed that neither the boat nor Mohamed was licensed to operate. Mohamed went on to produce a licence and inspection certificate for the vessel, named Prince AZ II, though the documents had expired in September 2018.
Friday’s release insists the episode “is not a minor paperwork issue” and calls the Joint Services’ account of the chase “equally serious,” warning that MARAD “should not be politically attacked” simply because enforcing the law produced “an inconvenient result.”
MARAD went further, citing Mohamed’s separate legal troubles in the United States as grounds for caution.
The release noted he has been sanctioned by the US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control under the Global Magnitsky programme, and described him as “a fugitive offender facing extradition proceedings” over an indictment from a federal grand jury in South Florida.
Those underlying facts are well documented. OFAC sanctioned Mohamed, his father Nazar Mohamed and their company, Mohamed’s Enterprise, in June 2024 over allegations of gold smuggling and public corruption.
A federal grand jury in the Southern District of Florida indicted both men in October 2025 on an 11-count indictment, including conspiracy, wire and mail fraud, and money laundering, tied to a scheme prosecutors say cost Guyana roughly $50 million in evaded gold-export taxes, and Washington formally requested their extradition later that month.
Mohamed, who has contested the request through multiple rounds of litigation, including an unsuccessful Court of Appeal challenge in March, remains free on bail in Georgetown and was elected leader of the opposition in January 2026 while the case continued.
Issuing a licence to “anyone of such sanctioned character,” MARAD argued, would be “extraordinarily reckless,” since dealings with a sanctioned individual carry legal, banking and compliance risks that “any responsible public authority” must weigh.
“Maritime safety standards cannot be tightened for ordinary Guyanese but relaxed, when a politically powerful individual wants a licence,” the department said.
Its licensing regime exists, it said, because vessels operated outside safety requirements “can cause death, injury and environmental damage.”
“Political office does not confer a captain’s licence,” the release said, adding: “Wealth does not confer a vessel licence and neither does popularity.”
“Attacking the regulator does not cure non-compliance,” MARAD said, adding it would “continue to do its job without fear, favour, or political intimidation,”
The department said: “Maritime safety is non-negotiable. No one is entitled to a licence.”
