Spite…from Suriname

Regular readers of this column would know there’s no love lost between Suriname and this columnist!! Even before they became independent from Holland in 1975, they always felt their oats against us since our independence in 1966. In 1967, they slyly snaked troops into the New River Triangle (NRT) – which had been accepted as belonging to us in a treaty with the Dutch – once we accepted they had sovereignty over the Corentyne River. The same Arbitral Commission that fixed our Venezuelan border in 1899 reaffirmed our ownership over the New River Triangle!! But every time Venezuela made inroads on the west, Suriname would chime in from the east.
You’d remember in 1966 – the year of our independence – the Venezuelans forcibly seized our half of Ankoko Island!! Our newly formed GDF ran a spectacularly brave operation in 1969 and kicked them out of NRT – from which, evidently, they’ve never recovered!! At every turn since they’ve made their sentiments known!! Permission to fish in the Corentyne River took a licence – which they’ve even agreed to issue – they’ve never kept their word!! Then, making out like bandits from the hard Burnham years through selling everything from pins to flour to Guyanese smugglers – they still run an outsized surplus in exports versus imports to us!!
They’d struck oil on land back in 1980, but when, in 2000, CGX tried to drill off our coast, Surinamese gunboats chased them out – even though they were in waters which the Corentyne delimitation treaty gave to us!! We took the matter to the UN International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) – and in 2004 our sea border was vindicated!! But the petty bullying on the use of the Corentyne River continued – as did the blatant disrespect on our New River Triangle – where they’d flaunt ownership on maps in front of our officials!!
Well, here we are being nice and all – promising to help develop their gas assets and even helping to build a bridge across the Corentyne – they’ve now gone and imposed charges for any Guyanese to use the river. Like hauling timber or grain harvested on our land!! Soon they might decide to charge us for swimming at 63 Beach since they might claim it’s part of the Corentyne River bank!!
Well, Pressie just announced that “The Government of Guyana has formally lodged a protest with the Surinamese authorities on this matter, and we are currently awaiting a response. We have raised our concerns in the spirit of dialogue and mutual respect, mindful of the importance of preserving the cooperative and friendly relations between our countries.”
The thing is, the Surinamese have never shown us any respect – and we should learn that “nice guys finish last”!!

…and strife
Now, your Eyewitness would be the last one to defend the Police Force. We know how unprofessional they’ve become since PNC inherited the institution in 1966!! By the time the PPP took over in 1992, that tree was so bent; any straightening it out meant breaking it and starting over!! But for political reasons – which should be well known to anyone calling themselves “Guyanese” – that could never be done completely!!
And in any case, when the PNC got back into the saddle in 2015, he reversed all the palliative tinkering the PPP dared do!! So, in Guyana, we know the Police are going to do what the Police are going to do!! But the latest extreme, incendiary language by PNC MP Black Pudding Man – blaming the PPP Government by claiming “Black lives under siege” when a Black man died in Police custody – risks pushing the racial card over the line!!
The coroner just said the man died from an ulcerated stomach! He wants to replay Adrianna Young?? Racial Incitement!!

…the sick?
Your Eyewitness has been getting numerous reports about staff – the new De Kinderen Hospital staff treating people like garbage!! Imagine they’re already feeling down – and being berated by a “carer”!!
Let them see how Pressie treats people!!