Controversy over Guyanese fishermen detained in Suriname being addressed – Trotman

In seeking to address the concerns of an ongoing river dispute which had led to the detention of several

Indigenous fishermen in the Orealla environs, President of Guyana David Granger recently met his Surinamese counterpart Dési Bouterse to discuss, among other issues, the territorial spat.
This was revealed by Natural Resources Minister Raphael Trotman at the National Toshao Conference (NTC) on Wednesday at the Arthur Chung Convention Centre at Liliendaal, East Coast Demerara.
The revelations were disclosed after Orealla Toshao, David Henry, expressed fear over the actions by tje Suriname military, who earlier this year, detained nine fishermen from the Orealla/Siparuta district whilst the fishermen had been plying their trade in the Corentyne River, their only means of sustenance.
“If the Suriname [military] do more seriously, we will suffer,” the Toshao stated. He then asked the Natural Resources Minister to explain Government’s position on the river dispute and its plans to ensure the safety of the Amerindian fishermen.
In response, Minister Trotman opined that this dispute is a matter which has “besieged Guyana” for some time, noting that Government, through many avenues, is advocating for the issue to be resolved. He informed that the Surinamese patrols are still continuing.
“We are quite aware of presence of Surinamese patrols on the river [and] the President himself is intricately and actively involved…[Granger] recently met with the President of Suriname and the matter is on the agenda,” Trotman noted. He added that the Public Security Ministry is involved while pointing out that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is actually “handling” the issue.
It was in January this year that reports surfaced of the detention, with the Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs Ministry later announcing that it had commenced investigations on the matter involving the Dutch-speaking country.
The nine men who had been detained in Suriname were later released. The men – Armaan Edwards, Genovese Davair, Alistair Peneux, George Edwards, Ackley Felix, Bob Peneux, Rodrick Herman, Edward Herman and Clifton Edwards – had claimed that they had been engaged in subsistence fishing in the Corentyne River at the time of their detention.
The Ministry in a release had noted that the men were using hooks and lines and were in small boats and canoes. According to the statement, the men had been taken some 30 miles upriver to Apoera in Suriname where that country’s military had processed and later released them.
“Some had to paddle for hours to get back home. The matter was immediately reported to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and is engaging that Ministry’s attention,” the ministry had stated.
That incident was not the first of its kind. In 2000, Suriname gunboats removed a Canadian oil drilling company which had been given permission by the Guyana Government to search for oil in the Corentyne.