“Conditions are less oppressive” – President on Suriname fishing licence impasse

Following years of delay and recent controversy when it comes to Suriname issuing fishing licences for Guyanese to fish in their waters, President Dr Irfaan Ali said that some amount of progress has been made on the issue.
On the sidelines of a press conference on Tuesday, President Ali was asked about the fishing licence impasse and whether a meeting is scheduled for this month. Despite previous promises, Suriname has failed to issue to Guyanese fishermen licences to operate in Surinamese waters.

President Dr Irfaan Ali

According to the President, there has been some amount of progress on the issue. Asked if he was optimistic that the fishing licences would be granted, the President would only say that the conditions are changing.
“I don’t know if there is a meeting scheduled. I know that we’ve put our concerns on the table. There’s a lot of discussions going on around our concerns. There’s some amount of progress being made. But we’ll continue to champion this issue.”
“Let me put it this way. I am of the view that the conditions are less oppressive to our Guyanese fishermen,” the President also said.
Despite promises by Suriname at the bilateral level to issue licences to Guyanese fishermen to operate in their waters, this is yet to materialise. In fact, licences were supposed to have been issued since 2021. Suriname, for its part, has urged Guyana to await the diplomatic channels, despite the previous lack of progress.
The matter of Suriname’s harassment of Guyanese fishermen and the Dutch-speaking republic’s continued refusal to grant licences to them, has been a topical issue in recent times that even escalated to the point where Guyana’s then Ambassador in Suriname, Keith George, was summoned last month to a meeting with the Surinamese Foreign Minister, Krishna Mathoera, on this very issue.
Following the high-level meeting in Guyana during August 2021 between President Dr Irfaan Ali and Surinamese President Chandrikapersad Santokhi, the two leaders had issued a joint press statement indicating that the age-old issue of licences for Guyanese fisherfolk to operate in Suriname’s territorial waters would be addressed.
These fishermen operate from the Corentyne coast and have to use the Corentyne to get access to the Atlantic where they get most of their catch. The Corentyne River is considered Surinamese territory. Currently, the licences are issued to Surinamese businessmen at US$100 per year and rented to the Guyanese fisherfolk at US$3000 annually.
About 150 boats operate from the Number 66 Fisherman’s Co-op Society, thus providing direct employment for about 800 fishermen. Additionally, some 200 persons are employed in providing services which include transportation, fish vending and repairs to machinery and equipment.
Guyana has previously said it will be bringing this matter before the Caribbean Community (Caricom), since Suriname is also a member state. Moreover, Attorney General Anil Nandlall has also said that legal measures could be taken, if necessary, to get compensation for the fishing boats and equipment that Suriname had seized and subsequently sold.
And comments by Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo that Surinamese businesses could be met with reciprocal treatment in Guyana, were met by the Surinamese Government pleading in a statement for all parties to await a diplomatic resolution of the issue. (G3)