Not so Suriname
Foreign Service Officer, Royston Alkins making a point during the meeting
Foreign Service Officer, Royston Alkins making a point during the meeting

– a portion of Guyana’s territory appeared on map during ACTO meeting

GUYANA was forced to urge a delegation of neighbouring nation, Suriname, to desist from breaching international protocols after a large portion of this country’s territory appeared on a map of that Dutch-speaking nation during a presentation on Thursday.
The anomaly was swiftly flagged by a member of the Guyana delegation at the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organisation (ACTO) regional meeting being held in Lethem to discuss indigenous health in border regions of Guyana, Suriname, and Brazil.

The issue arose during a power point presentation by the Surinamese delegation, when it was observed that the New River Triangle was included on their map. This area is located between the tributaries of the Corentyne River in southern Guyana and is about 3,000 square miles or 15,600 square kilometers.
The border issue has to do with ownership of the “New River Triangle”, an area of roughly 6000 square miles that is controlled by Guyana. Suriname has laid claim to this area, and refers to it as “Tigri.”

President David Granger on many occasions has said that the boundary between Guyana and Suriname was definitively established by 1936. Earlier in 2016, he had said that there is an agreement as to what constitutes the territory of Guyana and what constitutes the territory of Suriname despite there being no formal treaty that encapsulates that agreement.

A representative from the Suriname delegation during his presentation

Guyana is separated from Suriname by the Corentyne River, which for more than 150 years has been accepted as forming the western boundary of Suriname. Speaking on behalf of the local delegation was Foreign Service Officer, Royston Alkin, who stated that “The inclusion of Guyana’s sovereign territory in the map is contrary to the internationally recognised jurisdictions of Guyana and Suriname, and is clearly a breach of international protocol.”

Alkins noted that Guyana and Suriname enjoy very good relations and Guyana remains committed to working with Suriname to strengthen this relationship.
This is not the first time, he explained, that Guyana has had to express these concerns in an ACTO forum, and once again it (Guyana) is pleading with Suriname to desist from the breaches of international protocols.

“We also call upon the organisation to have the document expunged from the records,” he told the gathering. Alkin also asked that the record of the meeting faithfully reflect the concerns as expressed by Guyana. The Guyana delegation also includes Minister of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs, Sydney Allicock and Minister within the Ministry, Valerie Garrido-Lowe; Ministerial Advisor, Mervyn Williams; representatives from the Ministries of Public Health, Communities and the Guyana Police Force (GPF). (GINA/DPI)

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