The Government of Suriname has not yet issued the 150 SK fishing licences to Guyanese fishermen, which were promised in 2021 following an agreement between the two countries, and President Irfaan Ali on Thursday said that he was dissatisfied at the situation.
At a public meeting in Crabwood Creek, Berbice on Thursday, Ali stressed, “We are working on it very hard, trust me, every meeting up to two months ago, we are dissatisfied with the situation but we are promised that a solution will be proposed at the next joint commission meeting that is what (Suriname) President (Chandrikapersad) Santokhi would have said that they are working on some options to give us.”
On Thursday, a fisherman relayed that presently less than half of Guyana’s fishing boats from that area which usually operate in Suriname are able to do so this year due to the licence issues as well as the new processes that were forced on them after news broke of Suriname’s promise to issue the 150 SK fishing licences.