With President Irfaan Ali already expressing his disappointment to Surinamese President Chandrikapersad Santokhi over the reneging on the promised 150 fishing licences to Guyanese, he yesterday said that representatives from the two countries will soon meet to discuss the issue.
“I reached out to President Santokhi. There is active work going on right now, in relation to the boats that were kept on the Surinamese side. That matter is being resolved right now. We have agreed that a high-level meeting will take place within the next two weeks,” the president yesterday told reporters on the sidelines of the launch of the National Population and Housing Census.
Ali said that it was relayed to him by Surinamese officials that an issue they have is that when licences are granted to Guyanese, they in turn rent them out to other persons here. “That is one of the grey areas over there”, he said
On the Guyana side, the President noted that this country has “given all the data” and will wait for discussions.
Ali said that he is pleased at the efforts made in the last 24 hours to address the immediate concerns, in terms of the vessels that were kept in the neighbouring country, even as Guyana now looks forward to the meeting of the two foreign ministers on a long-term solution.
But he also noted that so concerned was he over the situation that he personally called key members of Suriname’s private sector and laid out that this country treats business persons from that country fairly and equally and reciprocal treatment was all that was being asked for.
On Monday last, the Guyana Government condemned the harassment being faced by local fishermen at the hands of the Surinamese authorities.
In a strongly worded statement, Georgetown called on Paramaribo not to go back on its promise to issue 150 SK licences to Guyanese fishermen for Surinamese waters and to provide an update as it relates to the licences.
“The Government of Guyana condemns, in its strongest possible terms, the most recent harassment being meted out to our Guyanese fisherfolk by the Surinamese government, inclusive of its failure to grant licences to our fishermen in keeping with a commitment made to His Excellency, Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali, President of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana on 26 November 2020, during a visit to Suriname,” the statement from the government read.
“In the absence of the issuance of these licences, our fisherfolk continue to face harassment at the hands of the Surinamese authorities, including fishing vessels that are stranded in Suriname and cannot return to Guyana for fear of losing their licences,” the statement added.
Back in August last year, President Ali at a joint press conference alongside Santokhi said “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 fisherfolk and this would be in effect from January next year, and this is because that is the period that the licences are normally granted.”
He 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.”
The licensing of local fisherfolk was to be done in keeping with the established quota set out by the Surinamese. Under the agreement, Suriname had agreed to licence 150 fishing vessels.
The Monday statement noted that during an official visit to Suriname in November, 2020, Minister of Agriculture, Zulfikar Mustapha, met with Suriname Minister of Agriculture, Live-stock and Fisheries, Parmanand Sewdien, and requested the issuance of the licences to allow Guyanese fishermen to ply their trade in Suriname waters.
During that meeting, the statement said Mustapha recalled the earlier discussions between Ali and Santokhi that there should be an agreement on the issuance of the licences requested by Guyana.
Sewdien, the statement said, also indicated that his government would form a company that would deal with the issuing of licences to the Guyanese fishermen.
