Written By Nadine Sanchara
SPEAKER of the National Assembly of Suriname, Dr. Jennifer Geerlings-Simons and a delegation of Members of the Suriname Parliament yesterday paid a courtesy call on President Donald Ramotar at Office of the President (OP) on Shiv Chanderpaul Drive, Georgetown.

Geerlings-Simons and her delegation arrived in Guyana yesterday on an invitation extended by Speaker of the National Assembly, Raphael Trotman.

Having arrived in the country via the Ogle International Airport, the delegation proceeded to OP where they were welcomed by the Head of State as well as Minister of Foreign Affairs, Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett; Government Chief Whip and Presidential Advisor on Governance, Gail Teixeira and Head of the Presidential Secretariat and Cabinet Secretary, Dr. Roger Luncheon.
While the courtesy call was just a photo opportunity, Speaker of the House Raphael Trotman, speaking to the media at OP yesterday, said the visit was really about opening the lines of communication between the two countries “at a different level”.
Trotman pointed out that the visit is “long in the making” since former Speaker of the House, Ralph Ramkarran had issued an invitation some years ago, but that visit never came into fruition.
He related that upon assuming the post of Speaker, he decided to renew that invitation and pursued it between the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Members of Suriname Parliament. According to him, he thought it was important to fulfill that undertaking.
Trotman stated that the objective is for Guyana’s parliament to have “more than just a casual relationship with the parliaments of neighbouring countries.
To this end, he reported that he has had discussions with the Foreign Affairs Ministers of Suriname, Venezuela, Brazil and Trinidad and that the visit by Surinamese Geerlings-Simons is the first that has bourne some fruit.
“The idea is that we share common space, we are neighbours…So it’s important that we have a better understanding of each other, how we think and what informs our policies,” he stated.
The speaker further related that the Surinamese delegation with meet with the Parliamentary
Sectoral Committee on Foreign Relations which is chaired by Deputy Speaker, Debra Backer
and has members of both government and opposition.

This meeting will take place today in the Parliament Chamber of Public Buildings on Brickdam
Street, Georgetown, with specific focus on the creation of an inter-parliamentary group
consisting of Members of the two Parliaments.

Moreover, he related that a meeting is also being scheduled between the Surinamese Speaker and all the female Members of Parliament, noting that she is also the president of the women’s arm of ParlAmerica, a South American parliamentary group.
Trotman stated that the visit is generally to boost relations between the two parliaments and said it is hoped that at the end of it, a way forward will be determined on how to advance those relations.
“Whether it will require a visit from our parliament, or our delegation going over to Suriname, whether we should schedule on an annual or biennial basis visits between each other, whether we agree to open lines of communication to discuss issues,” he said.
He pointed out that these issues could be on several areas such as backtrack, health, agriculture or education.
Trotman related that while the visit is coordinated by the Parliament of Guyana, they are in constant communication with the Foreign Affairs Minister.
Meanwhile, Geerlings-Simons will today pay courtesy calls on Prime Minister Samuel Hinds, as
well as Leader of the Opposition David Granger and the Leader of the Alliance For Change
(AFC) KhemrajRamjattan, prior to the meeting with the Parliamentary Sectoral Committee on
Foreign Relations.

In addition, a press conference will be held tomorrow to update the media on the outcome of the visit.

Geerlings-Simons and her delegation will depart from Cheddi Jagan International Airport, Timehri on Saturday evening.