A survivor from the Digya boat disaster says government claims that official’s of the Wildlife Division of the Ministry of Lands and Forestry are not culpable is inaccurate. Mensah McCarthy, whose 18-month old baby drowned in the boat disaster that claimed 10 lives, has told JOY News that gun-wielding security personnel whipped residents on the last day of the eviction exercise and threatened to deal severely with them if they didn’t leave the Island earmarked for a game reserve. A government White Paper presented by the Minister for Ports, Harbours and Railways, Professor Christopher Ameyaw Ekumfi blames the boat owner for the disaster. Although the report admits that armed security personnel frightened residents to flee, it falls short of implicating them in the disaster. Mr McCarthy, who says he expects government to compensate his family and several others affected in the April, 2006 disaster, claimed residents were literally chased out of their homes onto the boat by wildlife officials. Meanwhile the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, is also questioning the government’s White Paper. The rights group says the facts in the White Paper do not support the conclusion that clears the Wildlife Division. Commenting on the report, the Africa Region coordinator of CHRI, Nana Oye Lithur, says the Wildlife Division originally denied that victims of the boat disaster were the evictees. Nana Oye is asking the Ministry to make the full report of the investigative team available for review. She believes additional information from that report will be useful in determining the next line of action for the victims, some of who are already in court over the matter.