AN imposition was made on December 19, 2014 by Surinamese authorities with regards to Guyanese minibus operators plying the Guyana-Suriname route.

According to the Foreign Affairs Ministry here, the Embassy of Guyana in Paramaribo was informed by four minibus operators that the Surinamese authorities had instituted new requirements for buses plying the route from Guyana to Paramaribo.

These new requirements imposed on the minibus operators, a duty to transport the identical passengers they would have brought from Guyana on their return from Suriname.

According to the Foreign Affairs Ministry, this requirement is “impractical” given that persons have varying lengths of stay and passengers might also be traveling one way only. As a result, the Guyanese Embassy immediately contacted the Surinamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs which promised to speak with their customs authorities pertaining to the issue.

The Ministry added that having received no information, on the 24th December 2014, Minister of Foreign Affairs Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett corresponded with her Surinamese counterpart Winston Lackin, discussing the new requirement which she deemed as having “serious implications for free movement between the two countries, especially since tourism and general movement between Guyana and Suriname have been growing.”

The Surinamese official promised to get more information on the matter and gave the assurance that he will do his best to have it resolved.

With this development, the Guyanese Embassy continued in their efforts to follow up with the Foreign Ministry in Suriname, but no formal transmission of the new requirements has been received to date.

Following this, the Ministry was then made aware that another imposition had been instituted. This time, the Surinamese authorities were requiring that Guyanese operators need to apply for a license to operate from Guyana to Paramaribo.

However, Guyana’s Foreign Affairs Ministry was quick to rebut, stressing that these requirements were inconsistent with the Cross Border Protocol of October 22, 1998.

As a result, the Guyanese Foreign Affairs Minister yesterday again pressed her Surinamese counterpart through dialogue to recognize the good neighborly relations that exist between Guyana and Suriname. The sentiment was also shared by the Surinamese Minister.

MEETING ON FRONT BURNER
These relations, they agreed, facilitate an increase in movement of people between the two countries, and as such, the two agreed that a resolution to the matter should be placed on the front burner and that a meeting between the two must be convened as soon as possible. As such, the necessary arrangements are being made for the meeting to take place, the Foreign Affairs Ministry disclosed.