Suriname to be told Guyana's boundaries have not changed - Insanally
Stabroek News
March 11, 2003
It will be restated to Suriname that this country's boundaries within which the New River Triangle is encompassed, are internationally recognised and have not been changed.
This was Foreign Minister Rudy Insanally's initial response to the request issued last week by the Surinamese government to the missions and international organisations resident there that in future they should accept a map of Suriname which incorporates the New River Triangle.
The request is the latest in a series of acts by Suriname to secure recognition of a redrafted map of their territory which includes Guyanese terrain. At the launching of Suriname's publicity campaign for CARIFESTA 2003 last year at Le Meridien Pegasus, the promotional material included a video showing a map of Suriname, incorporating the New River Triangle. Health Minister Leslie Ramsammy represented the Guyana government at the event.
In January 2002, during his visit to Suriname, President Bharrat Jagdeo had to sit through a presentation which included the same map. Also, Suriname Airways distributed a brochure, with a similar map. However, the brochure was withdrawn after the government protested.
Speaking with the Stabroek News yesterday Insanally described the action of the Surinamese government in pressing its claim in the way that it did as "unexpected and unhelpful to the relations between the two governments." He said that it was agreed between the two sides that border, territorial and maritime issues would be raised within the context of the national border commissions.
He added that the matter would be raised at today's Cabinet meeting to consider other actions Guyana would take in response to the issue.
Meanwhile, Attorney General Doodnauth Singh SC told Stabroek News that the issue was among those raised yesterday when the two commissions met at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to continue their discussions on the possible modalities for joint exploration and exploitation of the marine resources in the offshore area of the Corentyne which Suriname claims as its territory.
The Attorney General said that Guyana reiterated its position that its boundaries were internationally recognised and that it did not recognise the Surinamese map as having any legal validity.
The border commission meeting was tasked by the Presidents of Guyana and Suriname to ascertain the modalities for joint exploration and exploitation of the maritime area to which Suriname lays claim pending the resolution of the maritime border between the two countries.
The Attorney General said that the meeting went well but that he was yet to see the agreed minutes. The minutes of the last meeting held in Paramaribo were signed at this meeting and the minutes of this meeting are unlikely to be signed before the next meeting scheduled for early June in Paramaribo. The other members of the Guyana delegation include Foreign Affairs Director General, Ambassador Elisabeth Harper, Ambassador Rudy Collins and Dr Barton Scotland.
The Surinamese delegation was led by Hans Lim A Po and included Eudia van Frderiklust-Kamp of the Surinamese Foreign Ministry and Dr C A F Pigot.
In June 2001, two Surinamese gunboats ejected an oil rig operated by a Canadian company, CGX Energy, licensed by Guyana, from its drilling location in Guyana's territorial waters. Several meetings between the two countries and later under CARICOM mediation failed to resolve the issue.
In January 2002, during President Bharrat Jagdeo's visit to Paramaribo, he and his Surinamese counterpart Ronald Venetiaan agreed to explore the possibilities of joint exploration and exploitation.
