(de Ware Tijd) PARAMARIBO – The State has purchased three patrol boats for the new coast guard which are to become operational next year. The sales agreement was signed at the President’s Office yesterday. The ships of French builder OCEA, which promises it will deliver them within 18 months, cost SRD 16 million and will be used mainly for operations against pirates who have targeted local fishermen. “The purchase fulfills a great need,” says Home Affairs Minister Soewarto Moestadja . “The pirates are becoming even more brazen and ruthless.”
The coast guard must also take action against illegal immigration, drug smuggling and illegal fishing. Director of National Security Melvin Linscheer explains that no public tender was held due to the fact that these vessels are a matter of national security. “Several suppliers had already presented proposals,” he says.
OCEA was chosen because of the short delivery time and the possibilities it offers for maintenance and training. Meanwhile the regular patrols by the National Army’s Navy continue. The pirates’ boats are faster than those of the Navy. “We want to catch the pirates sooner with better observation,” says lieutenant colonel Jerry Slijngard, chairman of the commission that is making preparations for the coast guard. Slijngard wants to build three or four coast guard stations along the entire coast.
The coast guard will be supervised by the Public Prosecutors’ Office and is not a military organization. The exact tasks of the coast guard and Navy are still being discussed, Linscheer said. In any case, the government does not intend to cut down on the Navy once the coast guard is operational. “The Navy will keep operating in the high seas, outside the 100-mile zone,” Linscheer adds.