CARICOM urges easing of tension Carrington for talks in Suriname today Guyana Chronicle June 10, 2000 THE Caribbean Community (CARICOM) has called for an easing of tension between Guyana and Suriname following the territorial row which flared a week ago after Suriname forced out a Canadian oil rig from drilling in a Guyana offshore concession. CARICOM Secretary General Edwin Carrington met Guyana Foreign Minister Clement Rohee yesterday and is to meet Suriname President Jules Wijdenbosch in Paramaribo on the situation today. Carrington told the Chronicle he was invited by Wijdenbosch to meet him. Rohee yesterday briefed representatives of the diplomatic corps here on the "latest developments on the controversy" after the special ministerial meeting in Trinidad Tuesday. President Bharrat Jagdeo has also been in touch with Carrington on the situation. Current CARICOM Chairman, St Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister, Dr Denzil Douglas, in a statement yesterday said the community "has learnt with concern of the growing tension between two of its member states - Guyana and Suriname - over border issues." He said CARICOM, however, "welcomes the process of dialogue to which the two parties have resorted and expresses the hope that they will find, through that constructive approach, a mutually satisfactory solution to the current difficulties." "The community offers all possible encouragement to the two parties in this approach and calls on them to avoid at all cost any escalation of the present tension", he said. Dr Douglas said CARICOM "also wishes to remind the two parties of their responsibility to the community for the maintenance of peace and stability to which all member states are committed, and in the absence of which the well being of the people of the community can be so easily jeopardised." He said the community and its various institutions "stand ready, within their capacity, to provide to the two parties whatever assistance they may require in the resolution of their current difficulties." President Jagdeo in a letter to Douglas Saturday, said Suriname had violated Guyana's airspace and territorial waters in forcing the rig from the drilling site in the exploratory concession awarded the Canadian CGX firm in 1998. The Foreign Ministry here said Rohee yesterday met Carrington in connection with President Jagdeo's letter to Douglas. The Reuters news agency yesterday said Suriname played down reports of a military build-up along its border with Guyana, stressing it would seek a diplomatic solution to the territorial dispute. Speaking to reporters after meeting top military brass late Thursday, Wijdenbosch said Suriname "has chosen a diplomatic path...to find a balanced solution to the current problem." President Jagdeo told reporters Thursday there were "some unusual military movements by the Suriname military on the border," and warned that Guyana "will not accept any threats of or the resort to the use of force by any external factor." In Suriname, Natural Resources Minister Errol Alibux accused Guyana of "making preparations for an armed conflict." But Surinamese Army Chief Col. Glenn Sedney played down the military movements after his meeting with Wijdenbosch, Reuters said. "We have not heard that hundreds of troops are on the other side (of the border). Our information is that it is rather quiet on the Guyana side," he told reporters. High level delegations from the two countries met in Trinidad Tuesday where they agreed to hold further meetings to try to resolve the dispute. "The Surinamese people can rest assured that we will be as careful and cautious as possible to get the best for both peoples out of this matter," Wijdenbosch said. Guyana has said it expects a response from Suriname at their next meeting scheduled here Tuesday on its demand that the oil rig owned by Toronto-based CGX Energy Inc be allowed to return unhindered to its drilling position. CGX has towed the rig to a safe distance outside of the disputed area but is eager to start drilling as soon as possible due to the high cost of keeping the rig on standby. The Foreign Ministry here last night expressed "deep concern" at reports from Suriname at the "official level and through the media that the Government of Guyana may be reneging" on the provisions of the agreement reached at the Trinidad meeting. The ministry said such reports were "mischievous since they do not reflect the clear determination of the Government of Guyana to bring the current impasse with the Government of Suriname to an early and satisfactory conclusion." It said that on "every possible occasion", Mr Jagdeo and Rohee "have made it clear that by its action in ordering the CGX rig to abandon its operations, Suriname has violated Guyana's territorial sovereignty." At the Trinidad meeting, a series of actions was agreed on to bring under control "a potentially explosive situation", the ministry recalled, noting these included establishing a joint technical committee which would begin working immediately "on arrangements to end the dispute over the oil exploration concessions." "In this regard reference was made to the concession granted by Guyana to CGX", the Foreign Ministry statement pointed out. Rejecting the statements from Suriname, it said the ministry has already sent to Suriname the names of the officials who will represent Guyana on the joint technical committee. The ministry pointed out that during the discussions at the Trinidad meeting, the Suriname representative "undertook to inform the Government of Guyana" by Tuesday "what further steps were envisaged to ensure the unhindered return of the CGX rig." Follow the goings-on in Guyana in Guyana Today