`...why...should we start quarrelling about the border while putting together the potential of the people would make us stronger and give us more development opportunities?' - Suriname President Ronald Venetiaan

PRESIDENT Bharrat Jagdeo has assured the people of Suriname that his only intention is to see Guyana and Suriname move forward, and feels the time for senseless conflict has passed.

At a news conference he shared with Suriname President, Ronald Venetiaan on the eve of his departure after a two-day State visit to the neighbouring country, and shortly after signing a joint communique in support of bilateral cooperation at several levels, President Jagdeo said he was aware his visit had caused heightened tensions in that country.

But stressing that he wants to see the two countries move forward, he said, "I don't have any other motive and this comes out of an understanding of where the world is going today...the time for senseless conflict has passed."

At the news conference were journalists from Guyana and Suriname and members of the two delegations including the Foreign Ministers of Suriname and Guyana, Marie Levens and Rudy Insanally, respectively.

Mr. Jagdeo, who was accorded a red carpet welcome when he arrived Monday at the Johan Adolf Pengel International Airport, said that all the people he met, including at the Anton de Kom University, from the private sector and other groups, made him realise more fully the common problems of the two countries.

The one cry was that they "want us (the two presidents) to do what's good for our countries and our peoples", he said.

"We have to move forward and utilise the possibilities and resources that we have to ensure that our people have a better life", and seek to find solutions so that no side would feel it has been disadvantaged at the expense of the other, he urged.

The President said that the accord reached on a number of issues will hopefully see the countries come closer together, not only within the framework of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) of which both are members, but as neighbours.

He urged the media of both countries to help create more awareness, reminding that they have a powerful tool which if used wrongly may not redound to the benefit of the peoples.

A Suriname journalist pointed out that political parties in the two countries were pressing the decades-old border issue and asked how can Presidents Jagdeo and Venetiaan, as good politicians defuse the situation and find some common ground in developing an offshore area, which if expectations are right may be rich in hydrocarbons and natural gas.

Mr. Jagdeo, in his reply, said he was aware of the concerns of people about the border issue in both countries, which sometimes are deep-seated because they had been fed with suspicions for a very long time.

That, he surmised, may be out of a lack of understanding of each other and because there is not enough information flow between the two countries, to the effect that the ordinary people can see the similarities of the issues confronting the neighbours and the commonality of the problems.

Also, he feels, if more sensitisation is done, everybody in the two countries will support the effort of moving forward. Mr. Jagdeo, in addition, pointed out that the peoples want to be assured that there is no compromise from the sides regarding the border claims.

Noting that the joint communique will not allow that to happen, he said if the Border Commission continues its work on resolving the border issue, which may take a long time, the countries must not allow that matter to affect the neighbours and peoples from benefiting from the resources.

NOT REINVENTING THE WHEEL
"We are not reinventing the wheel. Many other countries have done this - countries that had active border problems and have found ways of benefiting from their resources while they work simultaneously at solving border issues which will be a more long-term engagement," he said.

Of his critics in Guyana, who may accuse him of not being tough enough or not taking a strong position, President Jagdeo in a confident tone remarked, "my vindication will come five to ten years later...those people are living in a time of the past."

A Surinamese journalist told him that some members of the Suriname National Assembly are calling on Guyana to move its troops out of the New River area in the southeast, which Suriname is claiming, before negotiations on possible offshore joint exploration could be started. The reporter also asked whether troops are indeed stationed there and the Guyana Head of State replied that soldiers have been there for a very long time.

Mr. Jagdeo said the two countries had already set in train a process to deal with the border issue and the last thing the Guyana delegation wanted to do in Suriname was to get into discussions on the matter.

"I think we have set in train a process. I'm not going to mar this visit and allow anyone to take one point and try to undo what we have achieved here by responding...We have set in train a process to deal with border matters, that's all I'm going to say on this issue."

Asked whether the issue will be raised when President Venetiaan visits Guyana, President Jagdeo said he did not know, pointing out too that he was unable to predict what will happen in the future.

Another journalist, speaking in Dutch, asked why was Guyana buying a lot of arms, but Venetiaan who acted as an interpreter for the benefit of the Guyanese Head of State and his delegation as well as the media, said he had brought the issue, which is of concern to the people of Suriname, to the attention of Mr. Jagdeo.

He noted, however, it was not raised as matter for discussion.

Unlike what obtains in the neighbouring former Dutch republic, President Jagdeo pointed out that the Guyana Government can conclude some agreements and honour them without the approval of the National Assembly.

However, as it relates to the agreements in the communique including proposed joint oil exploration, he said he has given a commitment that the agreements will be tabled and that his approach here will be non-partisan.

He referred to efforts to set up a Parliamentary Committee to deal with Foreign Affairs and related issues as mandated by Guyana's revised Constitution.

"I'm hoping that they (the Parliamentary Committee) can also examine these agreements and they can play a productive role in advising us..."

President Venetiaan said he plans to address political parties from his country this week on the issue of joint exploration and the communique.

He noted that those who have expressed concern about the talks had not taken into account that in the Surnamese situation, every agreement will always have to be submitted to the Parliament for approval.

SOMETHING OF THE PAST
He said the Suriname Government has tried to explain to the people that the "voice" of the border is indeed something of the past.

"...it is important for the government and the people, this year, to move forward in the spirit of what we are discussing in CARICOM - Single Market and Economy, free movement of goods and people along the borders...

"I believe that putting together the potential of the two peoples is something that is in the spirit of what we are discussing in CARICOM - why then should we start quarrelling about the border while putting together the potential of the people would make us stronger and give us more development opportunities?"

The border problem flared in June 2000 when Suriname gunboats evicted a rig contracted by the Canadian-based CGX Energy Inc. from drilling in an offshore concession awarded by the Guyana Government.