GEORGETOWN, Guyana (CMC) – Guyana’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Hugh Todd, has met with Suriname’s Ambassador to Guyana, Liselle Blankendal, a few days after Paramaribo sent a protest note to Georgetown, following reports that Guyana wants to develop in the disputed border area between the two countries.

Guyana’s President, Irfaan Ali, has said that 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.

Suriname’s Foreign Affairs Minister Albert Ramdin summoned the Guyanese ambassador Virjanand Depoo last Friday to hand him a protest note. He said the presence of Guyanese in the New River Triangle area violates agreements made in 1970.

A statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs here said Todd met with the Surinamese diplomat on Monday during which time he outlined Guyana’s national policy framework that addresses the provision of social services including education and healthcare and existing infrastructure to facilitate humanitarian support and other emergency relief services, to remote communities within Guyana’s territory.

The statement said that Todd and the diplomat also discussed advancing the bilateral cooperation agenda through the Strategic Dialogue Cooperation Platform (SDCP) including the bridging of the Corentyne River and preparations for the convening of a Meeting of the Border Commission between Guyana and Suriname.

The next meeting of the Strategic Dialogue Cooperation Platform between the two countries is scheduled to take place in February 2025.

The MOU establishing that platform was signed by Guyana and Suriname during a Presidential visit to Suriname in November 2020 with the aim of enhancing cooperation through the establishment of several working groups on a number of areas, including infrastructure, agriculture, security, health, trade and the environment.

The Tigri Area, called by the Guyanese New River Triangle is a forested area in the South-Westren region of Suriname. The Tigri Area 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.