Following reports by local fishermen of harassment by Surinamese authorities while plying their trade in the Corentyne River, Minister of Agriculture, Zulfikar Mustapha has committed to engaging the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation for action to be taken.
Chairman of the Number 66 Fishermen’s Co-op Society, Mr. Pamashwar Jainarine on Saturday last told Minister Mustapha that some years ago, Guyanese fishermen were issued licences directly from Suriname.
“(But) in 2007, the Surinamese took away the licences, gave them to people in Nickerie who would then rent these licences. It has reached a state now where they’re charging US$800 for a licence which has a value of about US$25. We’re asking for the cost to be reduced,” Mr. Jainarine said.
The Chairman also informed the Minister that fishermen are being harassed and extorted by certain Surinamese River patrols. He told the Minister that there is an individual who demands US$100 or even US$200 to be allowed to fish in the Corentyne River. Those who are unable to foot the bill are sent away.
In addition to this, the Chairman said, “Any lil thing and they’re sending back the boat too. Sometimes (your) licence hasn’t even expired but they would send home the boat. We had an arrangement, sometimes they would issue the licence in March, we understand that in March month next year the licence is valid for nevermind it says January to December. It would say January to December but they’re giving the licence in March, April, and even till June month.”
After hearing the foregoing concerns, Minister Mustapha told the fishermen that the Government is in constant contact with the Surinamese officials on the issue.
“We’ve had a discussion not so long ago and raised a number of issues about fishing. We were of the notion that Guyanese fishermen should have users’ rights. For example, if we’re going to Orealla, we don’t have to take a pass to use the River. They did indicate that they were willing to give the fishermen licenses, both for the Corentyne River and their waters,” the Minister said.
He added, “We don’t believe our fishermen should have to get licences to fish in the Corentyne River so we’ll continue to discuss these issues with our Surinamese counterparts. They had asked us to supply them with the names of those who usually rent licences to Guyanese but because Government is not the one engaging those individuals, we cannot supply them with that information,” Minister Mustapha said.
He also told the fishermen that his office will be dispatching a letter on Monday to the Foreign Affairs Ministry seeking the Minister’s intervention.
Last November, Minister Mustapha formed part of a ministerial delegation to Suriname, which was led by President Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali. Since then, the Ministries of Agriculture and Foreign Affairs have been in contact with Suriname’s Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Husbandry, and Fisheries debating the issue.
Earlier this year, Minister Mustapha disclosed that his Ministry had received a correspondence that detailed the Surinamese government’s willingness to issue Guyanese fishermen licences soon.
This, he said, would see fishermen being able to operate comfortably in both the Corentyne River and Surinamese waters, thus eradicating the need for fishermen to pay exorbitant fees to rent licences from the middlemen.
