Guyana and Suriname are to meet urgently to resolve problems that minibus operators here are experiencing on their journeys to Paramaribo.
A statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that Foreign Minister Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett spoke yesterday with her Surinamese counterpart Winston Lackin and they agreed “that the resolution of the matter is urgent and that a Meeting between the two sides must be convened soonest. The necessary arrangements are being made for the meeting to take place.”
It is unclear why this decision was only reached yesterday as by the ministry’s own admission, Guyanese minibus operators had first contacted the Guyana embassy in Paramaribo on December 19th.
A report on the plight of the bus operators appeared in Wednesday’s edition of Stabroek News.
The Ministry statement yesterday said that on the 19th December, 2014, the Embassy of Guyana in Paramaribo was apprised by four mini-bus operators that the Surinamese authorities had implemented new requirements for buses plying the route from Guyana to Paramaribo. The bus operators reported that the new stipulation required that they transport the identical passengers they brought from Guyana on their return from Suriname.
“Needless to say this requirement is impractical given that persons have varying lengths of stay and passengers might also be traveling one way only”, the ministry said.
It added that the Embassy immediately contacted the Surinamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs which promised to speak with its customs authorities and to provide information pertaining to the issue.
The statement said that having received no information, on the 24th December 2014, Rodrigues-Birkett spoke to Lackin explaining that the new requirement had serious implications for free movement between the two countries, especially since tourism and general movement between Guy-ana and Suriname had been growing.
The statement said that Lackin promised to get more information on the matter and to do his best to have it resolved.
The statement added that the Embassy of Guyana also continued to follow up with the Foreign Ministry in Suriname but no formal transmission of the new requirements has been received to date. In the meantime, the Ministry said it recently learnt that another requirement was instituted by the Suri-namese authorities requiring Guyanese operators to apply for a licence to operate from Guyana to Paramaribo. This requirement and the one previously mentioned are inconsistent with the Cross Border Protocol of October 22, 1998, the ministry said.
Rodrigues-Birkett then spoke with Lackin yesterday and the statement said that they both recognized the good neighbourly relations that exist between Guyana and Suriname and agreed to convene a meeting urgently.
