Suriname Coast Guards seize four speed boats
By Daniel DaCosta
Four speed boats with some 25 passengers were intercepted by the Suriname Coast Guard on Thursday at around 0900 hrs, approximately 200 yards from the Guyana shore in the vicinity of the Guyana Rice Development Board's (GRDB) stelling, which was once used as the official port of entry at Corriverton. According to reports reaching Stabroek News two patrol boats from the Suriname Coast Guard intercepted the speed boats as they neared the Guyana shore. Several shots were reportedly fired in the air by Coast Guard officers as they approached the passenger boats but no one was injured. A senior police source in New Amsterdam told this newspaper that attempts were being made to contact the authorities in Suriname to ascertain the nature of the exercise. The boats with their passengers were reportedly returning from the neighbouring district of Nickerie in the Dutch-speaking republic. And according to the source, the boats and passengers were reportedly taken back to Nickerie. One eyewitness disclosed that the patrol boats were accompanied by cutters, which were used to transfer some of the passengers from the speed boats to the larger vessels. Some passengers were, however, allowed to remain in the speed boats which were escorted back across the Corentyne River to Suriname. The incident attracted a large crowd of curious residents, which, according to reports, included members of the Guyana Defence Force's (GDF) Coast Guard. Also located in the vicinity of the stelling is the headquarters of the Berbice Anti-Smuggling Squad (BASS) which has responsibility for curbing smuggling across the border. According to witnesses the Surinamese coast guards departed with their captives at around 1020 hrs. One of the boats seized is reportedly owned by a Guyanese, while the others are owned by Surinamese. Stabroek News had previously reported on the operations of an illegal landing at Corriverton from where passengers depart and enter Guyana on a daily basis. Scores of passengers utilise this operation daily and despite its illegality it is operated in the full view of the public a stone's throw from the Springlands police station.
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