President Bharrat Jagdeo said that he is “not disturbed” by Surinamese President Desi Bouterse’s continued insistence that the New River Triangle belongs to his country.
Speaking to the media briefly on Wednesday, President Jagdeo said: I am not disturbed because we know that Suriname has always claimed the area, so his re-instatement of that issue is nothing new.”
Additionally, the head of state stressed that utterances of the Surinamese president ought to be seen in the right context: “… look at the context, he said we want to solve it in a peaceful, friendly way and he fought off attempts to resuscitate the issue as a focal point of our relationship. He insisted that we should continue with cooperation, working together on many other fronts, without them giving up their claim,” the president said.
“Of course you know my view on the New River Triangle: this is sovereign Guyanese territory.”
A few days ago, De Ware Tijid, one of Suriname’s online news sites, quoted Bouterse as telling the National Assembly that Suriname will be exploring the possibility of taking legal action based on the principles of international law to come to a “friendly settlement”.
The issue of who owns the New River Triangle, located in the Berbice area, has been a contentious one since the 18th century, but neither Guyana nor Suriname is backing down.
At a news conference earlier in the day, the Alliance For Change said it noted with concern Bouterse’s “worthless claim to Guyana’s New River Triangle”.
“The AFC here issues its condemnation of what it views as aggressive posturing on Guyana’s legitimate territory.”
The New River zone is estimated to be about 15,540 square km (6,000 square miles). It is located in the south- east of the country in the Amuku- Acarai highlands, which form the watershed boundary between Guyana and Brazil. The terrain is rugged. High temperatures and heavy rainfall sustain dense rainforest with a thick canopy and tangled undergrowth. The zone is drained by several tributaries to the New River which flows in a north- north- east direction into the Corentyne River.
Noting that a mixed commission established by the governments of Brazil, Great Britain and the Netherlands in 1939 conferred the New River Zone completely to Guyana, the AFC said that since that time, international maps have been drawn on the basis of that agreement. In addition, Guyana always exercised sovereignty over the zone by granting licences and concessions to balata-bleeders and wood-cutters. From the colonial era, government geological expeditions have conducted surveys, and rangers from the departments of Agriculture and Lands and Mines have patrolled the zone to enforce regulations.
Comments are closed.