(de Ware Tijd) LIGORIO – Emma Pobosie officially celebrates her 111th birthday today, which makes her the country’s oldest inhabitant. She was born around 111 years ago in Ligorio, the last village on the Upper Suriname River. Her exact birthday has not been determined, and one was assigned to her at a later age.
Pobosie’s age could be estimated with some accuracy by comparing her with villagers of the same age group and with the help of the more accurate records of her late son. The Central Bureau for Population Registry (CBB) officially registered her in 1991, but twenty years later, she was gone from CBB records. The government pension fund AOV, which still operated independently from the CBB at that time, kept paying her pension, however. Two years ago, the CBB used AOV data to include Pobosie in its records again. Pobosie is still active, but in recent years, she has started using a cane for safety reasons. She is followed in age by Rosalien ‘Pikienmai’ Donoe (108) of Gunsi and Emanuel da Keti Pinas (105) of Peto Ondro.
