Failure by President Ali to listen to the advice of former President David Granger as it relates to the Guyana/Suriname foreign Policy agenda, has resulted in Guyanese fishermen being taken advantage of by the Surinamese Government and suffering major losses which affect their livelihood and means to provide for their family.
We reported that back in August of 2021, former President Granger was quoted in the Guyana Standards as warning that “Guyana’s policy towards Suriname should not be based on “wishful thinking”.
In the article, the former President warned against ‘exaggerated’ expectations over recent engagements between Guyana’s President Mohamed Irfaan Ali and Suriname’s President Chandrikapersad Santokhi.
Granger, in a comprehensive analysis of the Guyana/ Suriname foreign policy over the past 50 years, said that it is easy to underestimate the complex character of over five decades of interaction between the two neighbours. Referring to the exchange of official visits by the Presidents of Guyana and Suriname in November 2020 and August 2021, respectively, he said that friendly visits were necessary but not sufficient to transform inter-state relations.
In that said article we reported the Surinamese Government refused to license a hundred and fifty (150) fishing vessels that were presently fishing in the waters bordering Guyana and Suriname.
Last Thursday, the Kaieteur News reported that three boat captains, who were detained in Suriname with fake fishing licenses, returned to Guyana on Tuesday after they were made to pay hefty fines in the neighbouring country.
The newspaper further reported that the boats and fishing materials belonging to the fishermen were also seized and weren’t returned to them on their release.
The three captains: Ramesh Ramchand and Mahendra Bissessar of Annandale, East Coast Demerara (ECD) and Troy Tyrell of Lusignan, ECD, were fined 100,000 Suriname dollars after accepting that they were not properly licensed to fish in Surinamese waters.
Former President Granger had told the Ali administration that a professional foreign service was needed to deal with a neighbour like Suriname.
More, In The Ring.
