BRIDGETOWN, Barbados – Guyana yesterday referred an old maritime border dispute with neighbouring Suriname to international arbitration under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

But, as President Bharrat Jagdeo made clear in a live nation-wide broadcast yesterday, Guyana’s actions were not adversarial but were conducted “with the highest standards of international amity”.

The arbitration, he said, was “designed to establish a sound basis for economic development in the maritime regions (potentially rich in mineral resources) of both Suriname and Guyana”. He hoped, he added, that “the Suriname Government will fully cooperate with us in achieving this…”

With a view to keeping the lid on tension in relations with Suriname, President Jagdeo communicated with his Surinamese counterpart ahead of his broadcast statement, while his foreign minister, Rudy Insanally, held a special briefing session with Suriname’s ambassador in Georgetown. In addition, Jagdeo has requested that Caricom secretary-general, Edwin Carrington, inform all Caricom Heads of Government of Guyana’s action and the text of his broadcast was also being made available.

The Guyana-Suriname conflict over exploitation of marine and mineral resources in the disputed Corentyne region had escalated into a violent confrontation in June 2000 when Surinamese gunboats forced the halting of off-shore drilling operations by the Canadian company, CGX. Guyana had granted CGX a licence.

At a Caribbean Community Summit in St Vincent and the Grenadines, the use of force by one Caricom state against another was subsequently denounced as contrary to the letter and spirit of the Caricom Treaty. Both sides were urged to resolve their dispute amicably and in accordance with established best practices.