Guyana lodges protest on Scotsburg incursion Says Surinamese military acted aggressively Stabroek News September 8, 2000 Guyana has lodged a formal protest with Suriname over the incursion at Scotsburg, Corriverton by its soldiers two Fridays ago. That intrusion onto this country's soil came after two Surinamese patrol boats chased a Guyanese boat across the Corentyne River and fired shots in a dangerous bid to apprehend it. Alerted by the sound of gunshots, Scotsburg residents congregated on the beach and helped to resist the efforts by the Surinamese soldiers to force the boat and its crew back across the Corentyne. With the approach of a unit from the Berbice Anti-Smuggling Squad (BASS) and the defiance of the villagers, the Surinamese returned to their dinghies and back onto their patrol boat. The incident was first reported by Stabroek News which later carried reports by eye-witnesses to the incident. In another section of the media, the incident was reported as being described by Divisional Commander of Police, Larry George, as "not alarming". A release from the Defence Secretariat yesterday said that the lodging of the protest followed Suriname's President, Ronald Venetiaan's promise to investigate the incident. The release said that official reports from the civilian law enforcement agency and the military on the incident as well as others from additional sources "have established that the Surinamese military acted aggressively during an incident involving a Guyanese boat and passengers that ended on the Scotsburg beach. "The Guyanese were resisting the efforts of the Surinamese military to remove the boat from the Guyanese shore where it had run aground after eluding the Surinamese in a chase on the Corentyne River." The report received by the Defence Secretariat belied President Ronald Venetiaan's claim that the Surinamese soldiers had acted peacefully. Following a meeting with President Bharrat Jagdeo in Brasilia, President Venetiaan had described the incident to reporters as "not one to stir up anything between the two countries." He claimed that "to his knowledge the [Surinamese] soldiers who were attempting to apprehend a Guyanese boat handled the matter in a peaceful and friendly way, contrary to reports in the Stabroek News." Venetiaan said too that tensions surrounding the unpleasant removal of the CGX Energy Inc oil rig had led to the strict enforcement of the river by the Surinamese military, which he described as "the power on the river". He said too that the military kept an eye on smuggling that was rife in both directions. Concern had been expressed locally as to why it had taken the government, the military and civilian authorities so long to establish that the Surinamese had acted aggressively especially when there were so many eye-witnesses. Numerous efforts by Stabroek News to ascertain from the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) and other agencies were met with statements that the matter was still being checked out and conflicting accounts had been obtained. President Jagdeo had also voiced his concern at the length of time being taken to compile the report on the incident. The landing by the Surinamese soldiers at Scotsburg came just before the meeting of South American Presidents in Brasilia where Jagdeo and Venetiaan held a bilateral and during which the issue of the resumption of talks on the recent row over the CGX rig eviction came up. Stabroek News' Berbice correspondent Daniel DaCosta had spoken to two eye-witnesses at Scotsburg: Christopher Lynch and Valerie Alves who had related how the Surinamese intruders and the crew members had tussled over the boat. With the crowd becoming more vociferous and the arrival of the BASS squad, the Surinamese retreated. It was not until several hours after the incident that a GDF member arrived and spoke to persons who had witnessed the event. Stabroek News was told that a GDF Coast Guard member had observed the incident from a distance and that the police at Springlands had been told of the matter while the incursion was in progress. The GDF has a coast guard base at Benab, Number 63 village. Follow the goings-on in Guyana in Guyana Today