Vice-President Bharrat Jagdeo yesterday acknowledged that a deal reached in August last year for 150 Guyanese fishermen to be licensed for Surinamese waters is in limbo.
The agreement had been reached between President Irfaan Ali and his visiting Surinamese counterpart Chandrikapersad Santokhi and was supposed to be in place by January 1st, 2022.
This has not materialised and Corentyne fishermen have been complaining bitterly. The matter was raised during a visit to Skeldon, Upper Corentyne yesterday by Jagdeo. He suggested that a group of persons in Suriname who are benefitting from the present arrangement are against the approval of the licences.
For years now, Guyanese fishermen have been renting fishing licences from Surinamese for their boats. One licence would cost around US$3000 per year for one boat. However, some fishermen reported to Stabroek News yesterday that some Surinamese have since increased the price to US$4500 per boat.
Guyana had made representation to Suriname to have the licences issued directly to the Guyanese fishermen since the Surinamese who are obtaining the licences are not fishing but are buying them with the sole purpose of renting to Guyanese to make a profit. This is what led to the agreement between the two Presidents in August last year.
Jagdeo yesterday afternoon told fishermen in Skeldon that it seems a group of persons in Suriname does not want to see the issue resolved “because they are benefiting from this so they are fighting to prevent the issue from being solved.”
Jagdeo then pledged that Guyana’s Government would continue to make representation to see the licences issued while noting that they have made representation at the highest level in Suriname.
He explained, that all the information which was requested by Suriname in the early stages was all quickly submitted “and still we are not seeing any movement on this matter… it seems as though some people there are very reluctant to have the issue resolved, and every time the leadership, the President, and the leadership of the country try to resolve it they are pushing back on him.”
According to Jagdeo, no fisherman should doubt their efforts, stressing that the PPP/C government will always support fisherfolk.
He then admitted that they are somewhat helpless since the Surinamese authorities are the ones in control of rectifying this issue. Stressing once more that they have repeatedly raised the matter with Suriname’s President, Jagdeo said, “You can’t go higher than that raising this matter in Suriname and still it’s on its own.”
Wrath
Meanwhile, Chairman of the No 66 Fisheries Co-op, Parmeshwar Jainarine reported to Jagdeo that fishermen have been feeling the wrath of the pushback as the Surinamese licence holders have been harassing them since.
Following the meeting, Jainarine explained to Stabroek News, that licence holders are now demanding that Guyanese fishermen leave their SK-licensed boats in the Nickerie River without any security.
Questioned about how fishermen will return to Guyana after parking their boats in Suriname, Jainarine said he was unsure as well “and then how will we go back for them?”
He stated, “They are telling us we will have to take a small boat put the workers inside and drive to Suriname then load them in we big boats and then when we come pon sea them go sell in Suriname and take a boat and bring them back, how that go work?”
Additionally, Jainarine pointed out that they are worried that if a rope cuts while the boat is in the Nickerie River then that boat will ultimately be lost at sea leaving the owners with a huge loss and fishermen attached to that boat unemployed.
Further, the holders are requesting BV-licenced boat owners to now cut their vessels which are already built to 40 feet to 33 feet.
He said that if the boats are to be cut then fishermen will face a number of issues. He pointed out that they would not be able to move “around the boat comfortably, they won’t have enough storage for their gasoline, for their ice, and then it would be dangerous, water can jump in.”
Jainarine said that while the fishermen are disappointed that the licences have not materialised yet, they are hopeful that it will at some point be settled.
Jagdeo at the meeting yesterday told Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hugh Todd to compile a report on the harassment highlighted by the fishermen and forward it to President Ali to have it sent to Suriname’s President.
Responding to questions from Stabroek News on the sidelines of an engagement with fisherfolk at Lusignan last Wednesday, Minister of Agriculture Zulfikar Mustapha said that the Ministry is awaiting a proposal from the Surinamese authority on the matter. He related that whilst in Ecuador attending the 37th session of the FAO Regional Conference for Latin America and the Caribbean, he and Surinamese’s Minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries, Hendrik Setrowidjojo discussed the issue.
“We are still talking to Suriname and hopefully we can have an agreement shortly. The last time I spoke with their Minister of Agriculture was in Ecuador and he told me that they will send a proposal for us to look at… he hold me that he will get it to me as quickly as possible because I told him it is very much needed for us in Guyana,” Mustapha said. Asked what could be the rationale behind the delay, the Minister said he could not say but remains optimistic that they will be able to acquire the necessary licensing.
Back in August last year, President Ali, in a joint press conference alongside President Santokhi, announced “I’m pleased at the conclusion of discussions between the Ministers of Agriculture, and we have found a way forward in relation to the granting of licences by Suriname to our fisher-folks and this would be in effect from January next year [2022], and this is because that is the period that the licences are normally granted.”
Ali added, “There were some allegations and we asked the fishermen to give us the info in relation to the licensing. So we had a back and forward with that… that impeded the finalization of this issue but we have come to a solution. We have come to a solution at this meeting and once the information set is handed over to the Minister of Agriculture … in the new licensing phase the licence will be issued in relation to the quota that was already determined.”
