PARAMARIBO, Suriname (CMC) – Suriname’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Business and International Cooperation, Albert Ramdin, on Friday, sent a protest note to the government of Guyana, following reports that the government of the neighboring country wants to develop in the disputed border area between the two countries.

According to the president of Guyana, Irfaan Ali, his administration will harden the airstrip in the Tigri area at the so-called ‘Camp Jaguar’.

Camp Tigri or Camp Jaguar is a military camp and airstrip located in the Tigri Area – the area is disputed between Suriname and Guyana.

Ramdin on Friday summoned the Guyanese ambassador Virjanand Depoo to hand him a protest note.

During the meeting, the statements of Ali, who wants to start the pavement work on the airstrip in the Upper Corantijn area before the end of this year, were discussed. An earlier report from the Guyanese government that plans to build a new school on Kasjoe Island, also in the disputed area on the Upper Corantijn River by Guyana, was also discussed.

Ramdin also expressed concern “about the public announcements made to perform acts on Surinamese territory without permission from the government of Suriname”.

According to the ministry, the ambassador was also informed that the presence of Guyanese in the Tigri area is not in accordance with the agreements made between the two countries in Chaguaramas, Trinidad and Tobago in 1970.

The minister also indicated that the public announcements from Ali and his government “may unnecessarily disrupt the intensified, friendly and constructive cooperation between both countries”.

In 2015, then-president of Guyana, David Granger, said that Suriname should go to an international tribunal regarding the border issue with Guyana. The Guyanese leader could not accept that Suriname would continue to make claims without further steps. “If Suriname is so convinced of the legality of its claim, it should submit the matter to an internationally recognised body,” Granger said in the Guyanese parliament.

In 2011, President Desiré Bouterse of Suriname advocated an amicable solution to the border dispute and put the issue back on the bilateral agenda. “The Tigri area is, and remains Suriname’s,” Bouterse said in the Surinamese parliament. “Let it be clear: it is our territory,” he continued. According to the then Surinamese leader, it therefore made little difference that the heads of state of both countries had a good relationship with each other. The claim is not diminished by this. The government will work towards a solution, certainly a peaceful one. A “friendly settlement,” according to Bouterse.

The Tigri Area, called by the Guyanese New River Triangle is a forested area in the South-Westren region of Suriname. It is an integral part of the Coeroeni Resort located in the Sipaliwini District. In 1969, three years after its independence, the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) seized control of the disputed region when Suriname was still a constituent state of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

On August, 19, 1969, border skirmishes occurred between Guyanese forces and Surinamese militias at Camp Tigri, which was subsequently conquered by Guyana. On 18 March 1970, Eric Williams, Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago offered to mediate the conflict. In November 1970 the Surinamese and Guyanese governments agreed in Trinidad and Tobago to withdraw their military forces from the Triangle. Guyana has not held upon this agreement and continues to occupy the New River Triangle.

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