Suriname embassy sent copy of protest note
The formal note protesting the intrusion of Surinamese soldiers at Scotsburg, Corriverton was sent to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Paramaribo on September 5. A copy of the note was also sent to the Surinamese embassy in Georgetown for its information yesterday. Surinamese Ambassador Dr Humphrey Hasrat had told Stabroek News that he had not seen a copy of the note and none of the agencies he dealt with here could say when the protest note had been issued. This newspaper was able to confirm that the note had been sent from the office of the Minister of Foreign Affairs on Tuesday. Up to press time Stabroek News was unable to contact Dr Hasrat to confirm he had seen the note. On Thursday, a release from the Defence Secretariat said that on the basis of the reports it had received from the civilian law enforcement agencies and the military on the incident, the protest had been lodged. The incident stemmed from efforts by two Surinamese patrol boats to detain a speed boat with passengers travelling from Nickerie to Springlands which it earlier chased and fired on in the bid to get it to stop. The efforts to stop the boat included the launching of a dinghy with four Surinamese soldiers who pursued the boat to the beach and attempted to tow it back to deeper waters. Their efforts were resisted by a group of villagers and the appearance of Berbice Anti-Smuggling Squad members on the scene led to the Surinamese soldiers abandoning their efforts and returning in their dinghy to the patrol boat from which it was launched. However, before abandoning their attempt to apprehend the boat the soldiers had fired six rounds in the air in an attempt to disperse the crowd. Suriname's President, Ronald Venetiaan, with whom President Bharrat Jagdeo had raised the issue when they met in Brasilia earlier this month, told a press conference after the meeting that the incident was not one "to stir up anything between the two countries." He claimed too that, contrary to reports in the Stabroek News, to his knowledge the soldiers had acted peacefully and in a friendly way in their efforts to apprehend the boat. Relations between Guyana and Suriname soured after the June 3, expulsion by Paramaribo of an oil rig operated by CGX Energy Inc, a Canadian company, from its drilling position in this country's maritime jurisdiction.
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