Carib Scope

标签： Suriname

苏里南

  • Twee aangehouden bij drugsinval in Paramaribo, ruim 3 kilo in beslag genomen

    Twee aangehouden bij drugsinval in Paramaribo, ruim 3 kilo in beslag genomen

    A coordinated law enforcement operation targeting illicit drug trafficking in Suriname’s capital Paramaribo has resulted in two arrests and the seizure of almost three kilograms of suspected narcotics, local police confirmed Tuesday.

    The operation was carried out by the Narcotics Brigade of the Suriname Police Corps, with support from specialized intervention units. The raid followed a weeks-long intelligence-gathering process led by the Narcotic Intelligence Unit, which launched an investigation after receiving credible tips that drug trading activities were being conducted out of the targeted residential address. After analyzing the collected intelligence and verifying the tip, law enforcement officials finalized their operational plan and executed the raid on Tuesday.

    Upon entering the property and searching the premises and surrounding areas, law enforcement personnel uncovered large stashes of suspected cannabis-based drugs. In total, authorities seized approximately 2,779 grams of suspected marijuana and 179 grams of suspected hashish, bringing the total haul of suspected narcotics to 2,958 grams, or just under 3 kilograms. According to police statements, the drugs were found packaged in both large bulk storage bags and smaller individual portions, indicating they were prepared for distribution and street-level sale.

    In addition to the seized narcotics, police also confiscated multiple pieces of evidence linked to drug trafficking operations: cash in various denominations, digital weighing scales commonly used to portion drugs for sale, packaging materials, and multiple mobile phones belonging to the occupants of the property.

    The two arrested suspects have been identified only by their initials as M.P., 45, and Z.A., 52. Following the operation, authorities consulted with Suriname’s Public Prosecution Service, who ordered that both suspects be taken into custody for further interrogation and processing as the investigation continues.

  • Colombia rouwt drie dagen om slachtoffers verwoestende aardbeving

    Colombia rouwt drie dagen om slachtoffers verwoestende aardbeving

    On August 12, Colombian authorities announced three days of national mourning following a catastrophic 7.4-magnitude earthquake that struck the country’s western region just two days earlier, marking the most powerful seismic event to hit the nation this century. As of the latest update, the disaster has claimed the lives of at least 216 people, left thousands displaced, and reduced entire residential blocks to rubble in hard-hit urban centers.

    In a formal gesture of respect for all lives lost to the quake, the Colombian government has ordered flags lowered to half-mast at all public government buildings and diplomatic missions across the globe. Rescue teams, backed by heavy machinery, search dogs, and specialized equipment, have been working around the clock to sift through the wreckage of collapsed structures, with search efforts concentrated on the major cities of Pereira and Cali. Local volunteers have also joined the operation, forming human chains to clear debris by hand in a desperate push to locate any remaining trapped survivors before the narrow window for successful rescue closes.

    The critical 72-hour window after a major earthquake, widely recognized as the period with the highest chance of pulling trapped people alive from rubble, is winding down, but teams have not given up hope. That hope was reinforced this week when 32-year-old Daniela Largo was pulled alive from the wreckage of a collapsed building. Largo’s mother recounted that a neighborhood resident first heard her cries for help, and local civilians began clearing debris before professional rescuers could arrive on scene, a collective effort that ultimately saved her life.

    Aerial footage of Cali reveals the full scale of the destruction: entire neighborhood blocks lie in piles of rubble, crushed vehicles are buried under fallen concrete slabs and collapsed walls, and key public infrastructure has been crippled. The regional health system has been pushed to the breaking point by the disaster; the major Hospital Universitario del Valle in Cali suffered partial structural collapse, forcing medical teams to treat scores of injured patients in open-air areas outside the damaged facility.

    Across the impacted region, a wave of grassroots solidarity has emerged to support response efforts. Thousands of local residents have mobilized to deliver bottled water, non-perishable food, and other essential supplies to neighborhoods hit hardest by the quake. Local blood banks have seen long lines of donors waiting to give to support injured patients, with many citing community solidarity as their motivation. “This is about wanting to help your community, your city, and your country,” explained Ferney Cabrera, one of the hundreds of donors who turned out to give blood.

    Colombian President Abelardo de la Espriella has declared a national state of emergency in response to the disaster. During an official visit to the hard-hit city of Pereira, he pledged to provide rental assistance to displaced families who have lost their homes. The international community has also rallied to support Colombia’s response: the United States has committed $15.5 million in emergency aid, and messages of solidarity and offers of additional assistance have poured in from governments and organizations across the world.

    To date, local authorities confirm that approximately 15,000 people have been displaced by the earthquake after their homes were destroyed or rendered uninhabitable. Most of these displaced residents are currently being housed in temporary emergency shelters across the region, while many others have set up informal camps in public parks out of fear of returning to damaged buildings.

    Widespread fear of powerful aftershocks continues to grip local populations, and emergency response teams remain on high alert for new seismic activity that could further destabilize damaged structures and complicate ongoing search and recovery work. International humanitarian organizations have now deployed to the most impacted communities, providing critical medical care and emergency humanitarian support to residents in need.

    Even as search operations continue and the nation observes a period of national mourning, early recovery work has gotten underway. Local workers and volunteers have begun clearing debris and repairing damaged basic infrastructure, but the massive scale of the destruction means full reconstruction will likely take many months. Throughout the crisis, affected communities have remained united in grief and determined to rebuild, standing together to overcome the tragedy and restore their lives.

  • Essay II: De schaal van de vondst en wat ‘veel meer’ concreet betekent

    Essay II: De schaal van de vondst en wat ‘veel meer’ concreet betekent

    When discussing Suriname’s emerging oil and gas industry, two critical terms often shape public and policy conversations — and getting their definitions wrong can lead to major misinterpretations of the country’s resource potential. Petroleum and energy advisor Marcel Chin-A-Lien breaks down these key concepts and outlines the scale of Suriname’s offshore hydrocarbon reserves in this second op-ed, making the case for planned onshore refining and gas pipeline projects.

    First, Chin-A-Lien distinguishes between proven (P1) and prospective (P50/P90, yet-to-find) reserves. Proven reserves are deposits that have already been confirmed by drilling, with geologists measuring their properties and confirming they can be extracted profitably using existing technology at current market prices. These reserves qualify as tangible assets on a company’s or nation’s balance sheet. Prospective reserves, by contrast, are strong geologically-based estimates supported by seismic data and geological knowledge, but have not yet been verified by drilling. They are a guide for planning exploration activities, not a confirmed asset to base borrowing on. The expert stresses both categories matter, but they must be communicated transparently and honestly to avoid misleading the public.

    Turning to confirmed reserves currently documented in Suriname, the numbers paint a transformative picture. For Block 58 oil discoveries including Maka Central, Sapakara, Krabdagu, Kwaskwasi and Keskesi, published data from operators and independent evaluators places total recoverable reserves between 2 billion and 4 billion barrels of oil equivalent. The standalone GranMorgu project alone targets production of roughly 220,000 barrels per day starting in 2028 — a production scale never before seen in Suriname’s history. For natural gas in Block 52, discoveries at Sloanea-1, Sloanea-2, SAC-1 and adjacent wells have confirmed 2.0 to 2.5 trillion cubic feet of reserves in the P50 scenario. At realistic production rates, this volume is enough to support a 33 to 35-year domestic gas program. Additional blocks, including Block 53, Block 65 and multiple deepwater blocks, have seen partial drilling with encouraging early results, placing these resources in the prospective reserve category for now.

    Independent geological research focused on the shared Guyana-Suriname Basin makes clear that current proven reserves are unlikely to be the end of Suriname’s resource story. The estimate that billions more barrels of oil equivalent and tens of trillions of cubic feet of gas remain untapped beneath Suriname’s offshore waters is not speculative: the same prediction methods correctly forecast the scale of Guyana’s major discoveries between 2015 and 2024. To put this in context, neighboring Guyana has already confirmed more than 11 billion barrels of oil equivalent in less than a decade. Suriname sits in the same geological province, with the same source rock and seabed geological structure, giving geologists good reason to expect significant additional discoveries over the next 10 years, rather than poorer resource outcomes than its neighbor.

    To put these large, abstract reserve numbers in human and economic terms, Chin-A-Lien offers relatable comparisons. Two billion barrels of oil equals roughly 150 years of Suriname’s current domestic oil consumption; even with significant growth in domestic energy use, that volume still equals decades of domestic fuel security. Two trillion cubic feet of gas is enough to provide electricity to every household in Suriname for multiple generations, or to power a substantial domestic industrial base including fertilizer production, chemical manufacturing and aluminum processing for decades. In short, Suriname holds enough offshore energy resources to drive a full domestic energy and industrial transformation, while still retaining enough volume for exports — a model successfully deployed for decades by Trinidad and Tobago, and built carefully by Norway since the 1970s.

    This large reserve base is the core reason why two major planned projects — a new domestic refinery (NR) and a gas-to-shore (GtS) pipeline project — are economically justified, the expert argues. If reserves were only large enough to support 10 years of production, the high fixed costs of building a refinery and onshore pipeline infrastructure would never be recouped, making the projects unviable. That is not Suriname’s situation. Even conservative estimates confirm decades of producible oil and gas reserves, with additional prospective reserves that only expand the total resource base. At this scale, domestic processing of hydrocarbons, rather than exporting all raw crude and gas, makes solid financial sense, not just ideological sense.

    The math supports this conclusion: A modular 30,000-barrel-per-day refinery can operate at full capacity for 20 to 30 years on a base of hundreds of millions of barrels of combined sovereign reserve access and import options — a scale Suriname already has. A 100-kilometer gas pipeline with onshore processing facilities can support decades of offtake from the 2 to 2.5 trillion cubic feet of proven gas reserves, which is also a scale Suriname already possesses. The country currently holds exactly the resource base a small nation needs to justify onshore hydrocarbon conversion, a point that has been largely missing from public debate to date, according to Chin-A-Lien.

    Chin-A-Lien outlines the tangible economic benefits the two projects can deliver for Suriname, using indicative estimates that will be refined during pre-feasibility and feasibility studies. The new refinery is projected to save Suriname hundreds of millions of dollars annually in fuel import costs, while also generating tax revenue and dividends for the state. In the baseline scenario, this would improve Suriname’s balance of payments by $400 million to $700 million per year, compared to the current status quo where all fuel is imported. The gas-to-shore project would replace expensive diesel and fuel oil power generation with low-cost gas power in its early years, saving the national electricity company EBS tens to hundreds of millions of dollars annually, while also generating government revenue from royalties and taxes.

    While exact figures will be refined as planning progresses, the overall scale of benefit is clear: upfront investment in the two projects over four to five years will be repaid in later decades through lower energy costs, new local jobs, increased government revenue and greater macroeconomic stability. Most importantly, this economic value stays within Suriname rather than flowing entirely abroad.

    In closing, Chin-A-Lien emphasizes that the goal of this essay is not to mandate that the refinery and gas-to-shore projects must move forward. Instead, it is to demonstrate that Suriname’s proven reserve base is large enough to support building a structural, long-term domestic energy industry with smart planning. Claims that Suriname is too small or lacks sufficient scale to pursue these projects refer to the Suriname of 30 years ago. Today’s Suriname sits atop one of the world’s major hydrocarbon provinces. The geology has already delivered the resource potential; the final outcome depends entirely on the policy choices Suriname makes going forward.

  • Gerda Duttenhofer overleden, markante radiopersoonlijkheid en pionier van Latin-muziek

    Gerda Duttenhofer overleden, markante radiopersoonlijkheid en pionier van Latin-muziek

    The Surinamese radio community is mourning the loss of one of its most distinctive and beloved figures: veteran broadcaster Gerda Duttenhofer, who has passed away at the age of 79. The news of her death was officially confirmed by Radio 10, the station where Duttenhofer built her decades-long career and left an indelible mark on local broadcasting.

    Widow of Werner Duttenhofer, founder of Radio 10 Magic FM, Gerda Duttenhofer was tied to the station from its very inception, working alongside her husband to shape its identity and connect with audiences across Suriname. For generations of listeners, her voice became a familiar, trusted presence on the airwaves, defined not only by her one-of-a-kind timbre but also by her unfiltered spontaneity, encyclopedic knowledge of music, wide-ranging curiosity, and larger-than-life flamboyant personality.

    Duttenhofer rose to prominence as the host of two long-running, fan-favorite programs on Radio 10: the weekday show *Club Tropicana*, which introduced listeners to a diverse array of sounds, and the iconic Sunday evening broadcast *Sabor Con Calor*, which brought the rich rhythms and vibrant cultural atmosphere of Latin America directly into homes across the country. At a time when Latin music had not yet secured a mainstream place in standard radio programming in Suriname, Duttenhofer became the genre’s most passionate advocate, using her platform to introduce it to wider audiences. Her deep love for Latin music shone through in every track she selected and every segment she hosted, leaving an enduring impact on local music tastes.

    Beyond her commitment to music, Duttenhofer regularly explored other topics on her shows, from literature to shifting social currents and the changing spirit of the times. Her broadcasting style was deeply personal, rooted entirely in her own genuine interests and perspective, and it became inextricably linked to the identity Radio 10 built in its first decades on air. In a 2009 retrospective of the station’s history, Duttenhofer was profiled as a singularly vibrant radio personality; she herself once noted that she missed making radio deeply even when she was on vacation, a comment that underscored how central broadcasting was to her life and identity.

    When Radio 10 first launched on December 10, 1996, Duttenhofer was there from day one. While her husband’s legacy was tied to the station’s entrepreneurship, technical development and overarching vision, Gerda carved out her own unique space, building a loyal following through her personality, expertise, and on-air presence. Even after her husband’s death, she remained closely connected to the station, preserving a key chapter of Suriname’s commercial radio history.

    Her death comes just a few months before Radio 10 marks a major milestone: its 30th anniversary, which will be celebrated on December 10, 2026, exactly 30 years after the station’s first broadcast. Though Duttenhofer will not be present to mark the occasion, her contribution to Suriname’s radio industry extends far beyond her tenure as a founding figure of Radio 10. Through her distinct taste, signature style, and unmatchable personality, she carved out a permanent place in the country’s broadcasting landscape. For the listeners who tuned in week after week to *Club Tropicana* and *Sabor Con Calor*, her legacy remains that of a broadcaster who made radio on her own unapologetic terms: outspoken, spontaneous, versatile, and endlessly devoted to music.

  • Staatsbegroting 2026: financieel herstel zichtbaar, economische transformatie vraagt verdere uitwerking

    Staatsbegroting 2026: financieel herstel zichtbaar, economische transformatie vraagt verdere uitwerking

    On August 12, an independent policy analysis released by veteran Surinamese researcher Vincent Roep offered a comprehensive assessment of the South American nation’s 2026 national budget, concluding that the fiscal plan lays a strengthened financial and institutional foundation for long-term development while leaving critical gaps on the path from post-crisis recovery to sustained, inclusive economic transformation ahead of the anticipated launch of the country’s oil economy.

    Roep’s full report, titled *Suriname 2026 National Budget: Integrated Policy Analysis of Fiscal Policy, Sustainable Economic Development and Preparation for the Oil Economy*, was designed to contribute evidence-based insight to public debate over the quality of Suriname’s fiscal planning and the budget’s ability to support the country’s long-term economic growth trajectory. The analysis arrives at a pivotal juncture for Suriname: the country has secured preliminary macroeconomic stabilization and restored fiscal discipline following years of economic volatility, and now faces the dual challenge of consolidating those gains while leveraging limited fiscal space to advance inclusive sustainable development and prepare for an anticipated influx of oil revenues.

    Unlike traditional budget assessments that focus solely on short-term financial balance, Roep’s analysis evaluates the 2026 budget based on its ability to create enabling conditions for broad-based economic transformation and shared societal prosperity, aligned with global best practices for resource-rich developing nations. For the study, Roep systematically analyzed four core government documents—the 2026 national budget, 2026 fiscal strategy, 2026 annual financial plan, and 2026 national debt plan—using an integrated evaluation framework developed from guidance and insights from leading global institutions including the International Monetary Fund, World Bank, OECD, United Nations, and the Natural Resource Governance Institute.

    The framework assessed the budget across six core strategic criteria: macroeconomic stability and fiscal sustainability, social development and human capital investment, entrepreneurship support, economic structural strengthening, good governance and institutional quality, and local content development and preparation for the oil economy. Drawing on decades of research on small and medium enterprise (SME) development and resource-rich economy fiscal planning, Roep anchored each dimension in peer-reviewed international literature on sustainable development for resource-dependent nations.

    The analysis assigned the 2026 budget an overall score of 6.7 out of 10, corresponding to a rating of “reasonably good”. Breakdown scores by criteria were 7.0 for macroeconomic stability and fiscal sustainability, 8.0 for social development and human capital, 6.0 for entrepreneurship support, 7.0 for economic structural strengthening, 6.0 for good governance and institutional quality, and 6.0 for local content and oil economy preparation.

    The report characterizes the 2026 budget as a stabilization-focused fiscal plan with clear development ambitions. Key strengths highlighted by the assessment include the government’s sustained commitment to fiscal discipline, ongoing strengthening of public finances, targeted investments in education, healthcare and social protection, expanded capacity for public institutions, and the ongoing development of Suriname’s Savings and Stability Fund to manage future oil revenues responsibly. All of these elements are recognized as critical foundational requirements for long-term sustainable economic growth.

    At the same time, the analysis identifies significant gaps in the budget’s strategic framework for full economic transformation. While policy priorities such as innovation, digitalization, productivity growth, entrepreneurship development, SME support and economic diversification are acknowledged in current planning, they have not yet been integrated into a cohesive long-term national strategy. The report also notes that measurable performance indicators and clear institutional and organizational frameworks for budget implementation remain underdeveloped, a caveat aligned with the study’s ex ante mandate: the report does not assess actual implementation outcomes, only the quality of pre-release planning.

    A core focus of the analysis is Suriname’s preparation for its emerging oil sector. The assessment credits the government for making visible progress on institutional preparations and prioritizing responsible management of future oil revenues, but finds that key elements including local content requirements, domestic supplier development, workforce skills upgrading, and strategies to link oil revenues to broad economic diversification remain insufficiently developed.

    The report emphasizes that the long-term developmental impact of Suriname’s oil reserves will depend not on the volume of revenues generated, but on how those revenues are deployed. The study’s framework defines local content as far more than basic local participation in the sector: it encompasses entrepreneurship development, skills training, domestic supply chain growth, and broader economic diversification, all of which are required to ensure oil revenues lift broad societal welfare rather than concentrating gains.

    In its concluding recommendations, the report calls on Suriname to accelerate the transition from post-crisis financial stabilization to a full, national economic transformation strategy over the coming years. Key policy priorities identified for urgent action include expanded investments in human capital, innovation, digitalization, entrepreneurship development, economic diversification, institutional strengthening, and a robust, actionable local content policy for the oil sector.

    Roep, the report’s author, earned his PhD in 2008 from Anton de Kom University of Suriname, where he has worked as an independent researcher for decades. In addition to publishing academic research, he supervises graduate students in business administration, with a core research focus on SME development in Suriname.

  • UNESCO: 2,4 miljoen Afghaanse meisjes uitgesloten van voortgezet onderwijs

    UNESCO: 2,4 miljoen Afghaanse meisjes uitgesloten van voortgezet onderwijs

    Afghanistan stands alone in the 21st century as the only country on Earth that enforces a total ban on secondary and university education for girls and women, a growing humanitarian crisis that the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has warned is accelerating at an alarming rate.

    In its latest assessment of the country’s collapsing education sector, UNESCO confirms that roughly 2.4 million Afghan girls are currently locked out of secondary education. That number has already risen by 200,000 over the past 12 months, and the agency projects that without an immediate reversal of Taliban restrictions, the total number of excluded girls will climb to nearly 4 million by 2030.

    The sweeping education bans were implemented shortly after the Taliban retook full control of Afghanistan in 2021, following the full withdrawal of U.S. and allied international military forces. In March 2022, the group banned adolescent girls from accessing secondary schools, and just nine months later, in December that same year, it extended the ban to bar women from enrolling in universities.

    These restrictions are part of a broader rollback of women’s rights across the country that the United Nations has formally labeled “gender apartheid”. The policy reach extends far beyond barring female students: the Taliban has also banned women from working as teachers for male students. UNESCO forecasts that this rule will create a shortage of more than 11,000 qualified female teachers by 2030, and the United Nations has already documented that the ban has left a shortage of qualified instructors that forces male students to learn from untrained male staff.

    The education bans have compounded a long list of pre-existing crises that have left Afghanistan’s education system on the brink of collapse. Nearly half of all Afghan schools lack basic infrastructure including clean drinking water, functional sanitation facilities and heating, and more than 1,000 schools have been forced to close permanently over the past five years due to repeated natural disasters that have devastated communities across the country.

    The damage already extends to primary education, where more than 2 million children of all genders remain out of school entirely. Currently, 90% of 10-year-old children in Afghanistan cannot read a simple, age-appropriate text, pushing the country’s national literacy rate down to just 37%.

    Despite widespread global condemnation and repeated calls to reverse the ban – including appeals from a number of Muslim-majority nations – Taliban leaders have refused to roll back the policy, framing the restriction on girls’ education as an internal Afghan matter that is not open to international negotiation.

  • Surinamers voorzichtig optimistisch, maar kiezen voor duurzame economische koers

    Surinamers voorzichtig optimistisch, maar kiezen voor duurzame economische koers

    On August 12, new findings from the third annual National Perception Survey Suriname 3.0 have revealed a nuanced collective perspective among Suriname’s population on the country’s economic future: cautious optimism paired with a clear, widespread commitment to sustainability and intergenerational equity, rejecting the idea that growth must come at any cost.

    Commissioned by Suriname’s Ministry of Oil, Gas and Environment and carried out by local research institute NIKOS, the survey was designed to map public visions, expectations and priorities for national development through 2050. When asked about their outlook for the country’s trajectory, 42% of respondents predicted that living conditions in Suriname will improve in the coming years, 32% expected little to no change, and 26% foresaw a worsening situation. The research team characterized the overall sentiment as cautious optimism: while moderate optimism prevails, broad unshakable confidence in a brighter future has not yet taken hold.

    Demographic breakdowns uncovered clear patterns in public sentiment: younger respondents expressed higher levels of optimism than older age groups, and educational attainment directly correlated with positive outlooks. Among respondents with higher vocational or university education, 51% expected future improvement, compared to just 30% of those with only primary education.

    Notably, this cautious optimism about the national future exists alongside widespread current financial struggle. Only 18% of survey participants reported that they currently have enough income to cover their needs comfortably. Seventy-two percent said they make ends meet but face ongoing financial difficulty, while 10% struggle to stay afloat. Forty-three percent of respondents added that their personal financial situation has worsened compared to five years ago, confirming that positive future expectations do not stem from widespread current prosperity.

    Against this backdrop, one of the survey’s most striking findings is the overwhelming public support for rainforest conservation, even when it limits near-term economic expansion. A full 87% of respondents said Suriname must protect its old-growth rainforest regardless of potential growth constraints, meaning the vast majority of the population rejects an unconditional push for maximum economic expansion and explicitly frames nature protection as a core component of a desirable development model.

    This commitment to long-term, sustainable planning is further reflected in public attitudes toward upcoming oil and gas revenues. Eighty-three percent of respondents support reserving a large share of future resource revenues for future generations, rather than spending all funds immediately. Additionally, 96% ranked investments in education as the most critical investment for the country’s future, and 91% said good governance and anti-corruption efforts are more important than the new revenues from oil and gas development. Based on these results, researchers concluded that Surinamese people explicitly tie economic progress to investments in education, accountable governance, environmental stewardship, long-term planning, and broad access to opportunity for all citizens.

    When asked which sectors Suriname should prioritize to reduce its economic dependence on oil and mining, 57% of respondents named agriculture and agro-industry as the top priority, followed by tourism and ecotourism at 27%, and both ICT and digital services and forest-based bio-economy at 16% each. Support for agricultural development is broad across demographics: the sector ranks first among all age groups and earns majority support in nearly all of Suriname’s districts, with particularly strong backing in the Nickerie and Brokopondo districts. At the same time, younger and higher-educated respondents are more likely to identify growth opportunities in sustainable tourism, digital services, and nature-based economic activities.

    Across all responses, the public consistently frames oil and gas not as the final end goal of national economic development, but as a potential catalyst to strengthen other economic sectors. The survey’s final report echoes this conclusion: researchers note that oil and gas revenues can act as a springboard to build a broader, more sustainable, and less economically vulnerable national economy – if investments are targeted, long-term, and coordinated across sectors.

    This approach does not mean that Surinamese people reject natural resource development as a foundation for progress. On the contrary, respondents identified Suriname’s abundant natural wealth as one of the country’s greatest core strengths. The resulting public vision for 2050 is a balanced one: leverage natural resources, but do not deplete them; use oil revenues to drive development, but do not spend all of them today; pursue economic growth, but protect critical ecosystems and build up alternative productive sectors at the same time.

    The overarching conclusion of the survey confirms this balanced framing: while Suriname’s population holds cautious optimism about the future, it remains uncertain whether the country’s current opportunities will actually be converted into broad-based, sustainable progress. The findings make clear that for the Surinamese public, the debate over the country’s economic future is not solely about how much revenue oil and gas development will generate. At least as important is what public goods are built with those revenues, and what is left behind for generations to come. This frames the national challenge through 2050 as broader than just delivering economic growth: it requires deploying new resource wealth in a way that diversifies the economy, protects Suriname’s irreplaceable natural capital, and establishes lasting sources of prosperity that will endure long after the age of oil extraction ends.

  • DNA-vergadering ontspoort na ruzie over vergunningenbeleid

    DNA-vergadering ontspoort na ruzie over vergunningenbeleid

    A routine policy discussion over permit processing for small-scale entrepreneurs in Suriname’s National Assembly descended into full-scale political chaos on Tuesday, leaving the chamber adjourned indefinitely after bitter clashes between ruling coalition and opposition lawmakers. What began as pointed criticism from National Democratic Party (NDP) opposition leader Rabin Parmessar targeting Economic Affairs, Entrepreneurship and Technological Innovation Minister Andrew Baasaron quickly escalated into hours of acrimonious back-and-forth over parliamentary conduct and allegations of unfair treatment of applicants.

    Presiding over the session was Ivanildo Plein, the assembly’s second deputy vice-chairperson. As tensions spiraled out of control, Plein was forced to call multiple recesses, eventually requested assistance from police, and formally adjourned the meeting when members of the ruling coalition’s VHP party began walking out of the chamber.

    During the opening of the debate, Minister Baasaron laid out the current context of the permit approval process, explaining that delays in reviewing applications often stem from the ministry’s reliance on input and clearance from multiple independent government bodies, including the Public Health Bureau, fire department, and National Environmental Authority. He told the assembly that the government is actively working to streamline and fully digitize the entire permitting workflow to cut wait times.

    Parmessar rejected the minister’s explanation, arguing that small business owners and independent artisans are being forced to wait unreasonably long for approvals, while other applications are processed far more quickly through what he implied was preferential treatment. He pressed the minister to set clear, binding processing timelines for applicants that meet all regulatory requirements, claiming small entrepreneurs are currently being sidelined by the government’s broken system.

    The confrontation grew more heated when Plein attempted to end Parmessar’s remarks to open the floor for other lawmakers, triggering shouts and cross-arguments from both sides that forced the first recess. When the session reconvened, NDP legislator Silvana Afonsoewa called on the presiding officer to ensure the minister directly addressed the widespread concerns of small business owners, noting that young entrepreneurs who have had pending applications for months are closely following the debate to see how the government will resolve the crisis. She acknowledged that Parmessar had become emotional during his opening comments, adding that the NDP caucus had discussed the incident during the recess.

    The dispute expanded beyond the permit policy when VHP legislator Mahinder Jogi accused Parmessar of using inappropriate, unparliamentary language during a heated exchange in the first recess. Jogi referenced a past incident where he was forced to leave the chamber after making off-microphone inappropriate remarks, demanding that the same disciplinary standards be applied equally to all assembly members, regardless of party affiliation. Jogi warned that without consistent enforcement, parliament would devolve into an unregulated space where members can say anything without consequence.

    Plein responded that he had not personally heard the alleged offensive remarks, so he could not impose disciplinary action. He confirmed that after a second recess, he checked with the assembly’s audio department to review any video or audio recording of the incident, but found no evidence: official recordings only capture remarks made during active sessions, not conversations during recesses, when no recording equipment is active. “I protect no one, and I will not protect anyone,” Plein told the chamber, adding that disciplinary action would follow immediately if any violation is proven.

    Afonsoewa later confirmed that a verbal altercation had occurred between Parmessar and another legislator during the recess, noting she was standing near the exchange. She clarified that no remarks were captured by a microphone, and proposed that the NDP caucus handle the matter internally to prevent a similar incident from happening again. The VHP rejected this offer, with VHP legislator Dew Sharman arguing that Afonsoewa’s confirmation itself proved the incident occurred, claiming NDP legislator Ebu Jones left the chamber in anger after the exchange. VHP lawmakers continued to insist that the presiding officer enforce consistent rules for inappropriate conduct, regardless of whether it happened during a recess or off-microphone.

    As tensions continued to rise, Plein announced he had called in police assistance and met with on-site officers after another recess. He told the assembly that during recess negotiations, the parties had agreed the VHP would deliver a statement before the session resumed to preserve order, and he accepted this arrangement to allow debate on the pending bill to continue.

    Bronto Somohardjo, leader of the PL party, a coalition member, subsequently apologized to the Surinamese public on behalf of the coalition for the chaotic scenes in the assembly. But he also accused the opposition of intentionally stalling the session and attacking the presiding officer to block legislation from being passed, calling on the chamber to refocus on reviewing the bill under discussion. Those remarks immediately triggered new irritation among VHP lawmakers.

    VHP leader Asis Gajadien said Somohardjo’s comments had made a bad situation “worse”, warning that parliament could not be allowed to become a “free-for-all shouting match” where any remark is acceptable during sessions or recesses. Gajadien issued a formal warning that he would direct his entire caucus to walk out of the session if no resolution was found. The debate was originally scheduled to review an amendment to Suriname’s 1912 Industrial Property Regulation bill.

    Parmessar later attempted to refocus the chamber back on the original permitting issue and the pending bill. He acknowledged that his criticism of the minister may have been overly sharp, but stressed that his intensity stemmed from his commitment to advocating for struggling small business owners. He repeated his call for the government to answer his original questions, and said the bill was important enough to continue debate, urging the assembly to return to calmer proceedings.

    The de-escalation attempt ultimately failed. When Gajadier attempted to speak again and Plein observed VHP members beginning to exit the chamber, he concluded the session could not continue. “What I am going to propose is that we adjourn this meeting to a date to be determined later,” Plein stated, before formally adjourning the assembly.

  • Telesur en Liberty versterken internationale digitale verbindingen voor groei oliesector

    Telesur en Liberty versterken internationale digitale verbindingen voor groei oliesector

    As Suriname prepares for a rapid expansion of its offshore oil and gas industry and broad-based economic digitalization, national telecommunications provider Telesur and regional digital infrastructure operator Liberty Networks have agreed to deepen their long-standing cooperation to strengthen the country’s international digital connectivity. The expanded partnership, formalized via a signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) during the 41st annual CANTO conference held in the Dominican Republic from August 9 to 12, is designed to deliver increased network capacity, greater reliability, and enhanced redundancy for Suriname’s cross-border digital links.

    This collaboration builds on the two firms’ existing work on international submarine connectivity, most notably through the Suriname-Guyana Submarine Cable System (SGSCS), which has supported Suriname’s international telecommunications links since 2009. Industry analysts note that demand for robust digital infrastructure in Suriname is set to surge in the coming years, driven first and foremost by the needs of the fast-growing offshore energy sector. Modern offshore oil and gas operations rely heavily on uninterrupted data flows, real-time digital communication, and constant connections to global corporate networks, requirements that outdated or overstretched infrastructure cannot meet.

    Yet the need for improved connectivity extends far beyond the energy industry. Banks, government agencies, healthcare providers, educational institutions, cloud service users, and private sector businesses across Suriname are increasingly dependent on stable international data connections to operate effectively. To address this growing demand, the partnership will add new international connectivity routes, integrating Telesur’s national network more deeply with Liberty Networks’ regional fiber-optic footprint. This integration will drastically reduce Suriname’s vulnerability to single-point connection outages, a critical improvement given the persistent risk of damage or faults to submarine cables.

    By diversifying routes and adding network redundancy, the two firms will ensure that internet and other digital services remain operational via alternative pathways if one connection fails. The agreement also includes plans to boost joint response capabilities to address cable faults and service interruptions more quickly when they do occur. Beyond reliability, the expanded partnership will add substantial new international capacity to accommodate surging consumer and business demand for internet access, online communication, digital financial services, streaming entertainment, and e-government services.

    Speaking at the conference, Ray Collins, Senior Vice President for Infrastructure and Corporate Strategy at Liberty Latin America and CEO of Liberty Networks, noted that Suriname is entering an extraordinary period of economic transformation, where reliable connectivity will play a foundational role in supporting sustainable growth. Collins added that Liberty is committed to leveraging its extensive regional network infrastructure to support Suriname’s development goals.

    Telesur CEO Doric Ramlakhan echoed this sentiment, emphasizing that the MoU formalizes the two organizations’ shared ambition to scale their cooperation in lockstep with Suriname’s growing digital and economic needs. Ramlakhan specifically highlighted that the upgraded infrastructure is being designed to meet the strict reliability and capacity requirements that the expanding oil and gas sector will demand in the coming years.

    Ultimately, the partnership aims to deliver greater stability, scalable capacity, and long-term consistent availability of international connectivity for Suriname. The expanded collaboration carries broad economic significance for the country: the upgraded digital infrastructure will not only keep pace with current internet usage growth but will also proactively prepare Suriname for the wave of new economic activity that offshore oil and gas development is expected to bring over the next decade.

  • Somohardjo wil nationaal actieplan voor waarheidsvinding en slachtofferbescherming

    Somohardjo wil nationaal actieplan voor waarheidsvinding en slachtofferbescherming

    On August 11, a senior Surinamese politician has launched a formal push for systemic reforms to strengthen truth-finding processes and victim protection, sparked by widespread public unrest following the recent death of a 39-year-old woman.

    Bronto Somohardjo, leader of the PL parliamentary faction, has submitted separate formal letters to Suriname’s prosecutor-general and Minister of Justice and Police Harish Monorath, laying out a call for long-term structural change that goes far beyond the single controversial case that ignited current public debate.

    In his correspondence with the prosecutor-general, Somohardjo stresses that he fully respects the independent mandate of the Public Prosecution Service. His request does not seek to influence the specific outcome of the ongoing high-profile death investigation, but rather to draw attention to the critical importance of upholding public trust in truth-finding processes for deaths that trigger broad societal turmoil.

    “My request explicitly does not concern any predetermined outcome for this individual case,” Somohardjo wrote. “I ask only that every Surinamese citizen can trust that the truth will be established independently, carefully, and without favor based on a person’s status.”

    In the separate letter to Justice Minister Monorath, Somohardjo formally proposes the development of a National Action Plan for Truth-Finding and Victim Protection, a framework designed to embed lasting improvements across the justice system. He outlined that the plan should prioritize multiple key objectives: boosting the quality of forensic investigative work, establishing clear standardized protocols for handling deaths that generate large-scale public attention, improving transparency and communication with surviving family members, expanding support services for victims, and rebuilding broader public confidence in the rule of law.

    “A rule of law must not only be fair – it must also be visibly fair,” Somohardjo argued in the letter, emphasizing that perceived fairness is just as critical as actual fairness to maintaining public trust in state institutions.

    The parliamentarian went on to clarify that his initiative is not limited to the current case that has dominated public discourse in recent weeks. “These letters are not about just one case file,” he explained. “They are about every Surinamese, who deserves to be able to trust that when a death raises major public questions, the truth will be pursued with equal effort, no matter the person’s name, social standing, or financial means.”

    Somohardjo confirmed that the two letters mark only the opening phase of a broader parliamentary push to strengthen public trust in truth-finding processes, victim protection frameworks, and the national rule of law. “No one may stand above the truth. No one may stand above the law,” the PL faction leader emphasized, underscoring the core principle guiding his proposal.