Guyana maps used on the international scene are a representation of the accepted boundaries of the country, says Foreign Affairs Minister Rudy Insanally.

The remark came yesterday amid new controversy with neighbouring Suriname over the depiction of a Guyana map on the T-shirts worn by the Guyana contingent both at the opening and closing ceremonies of Carifesta VIII held in that country, and in information brochures circulated during the festival.

The T-shirt act prompted a formal protest by the Dutch- speaking country, which the local Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it was considering. However, when questioned by members of the media following the formal launch of the inaugural meeting of the Advisory Council on Foreign Relations yesterday, Minister Insanally said that, "Any maps depicted by us represent the internationally accepted boundaries of Guyana so I do not see why the representation of such a map would create any problem."

A report in the Surinamese daily, De Ware Tijd, on September 5, said that Suriname's Foreign Minister Marie Levens had protested the depiction of Guyana map on the T-shirts worn by the Guyana contingent.

The official note states that the Guyana map that was displayed showed the New River Triangle as being part of Guyana. Suriname claims the New River Triangle as its territory and earlier this year wrote to international organisations and diplomatic missions in Paramaribo indicating that the New River Triangle was within its boundaries.

Guyana protested and also wrote to the international organisations and missions contacted by Suriname reminding them that Guyana's boundaries remained unchanged from those that were internationally recognised at the time it gained its independence in 1966.

The Guyana government had also cautioned Suriname against embarrassing the Guyana delegation at the Carifesta celebrations by displaying flags, which showed the New River Triangle as Surinamese territory. During the week-long festivities last month and attended by some 29 countries, Stabroek News noticed that there were no conspicuous postings of the Suriname map incorporating the spurious claim.

Last year at the launching of Carifesta VIII at Le Meridien Pegasus at which Health Minister, Dr Leslie Ramsammy was present, a map of Suriname was displayed incorporating the New River Triangle as part of its territory. Earlier in the year too during his state visit to Suriname, President Bharrat Jagdeo was forced to sit through a presentation by Staatsolie, the state-owned oil company, during which maps were displayed showing the New River Triangle as Surinamese territory.

Suriname claims the New River Triangle as its territory as well as a chunk of Guyana's maritime zone lying off the Corentyne coast. In June 2000, Surinamese gunboats ejected a Canadian owned oilrig from its drilling location in Guyana's territorial waters.

The two countries since then have been exploring, at the level of their national border commissions, the possibility of jointly exploiting and managing the resources in the disputed area until the maritime boundary between the two countries has been determined.