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The Suriname Border

Oct 29, 2008 Editorial

Our newspaper carried two articles and one letter recently on the Suriname Border issue. In Peeping Tom’s article, he/she did not quote the agreement or material on which he/she referred, but merely argued that the historical evidence shows that Suriname owned the Corentyne River.
In Minister Rodrigues’s response, she relied on the Governors’ Agreement, which was later adopted by the two colonial powers. The minister quoted only one clause referring to the islands in the Corentyne River, and argued that the clause was only capable of one interpretation, namely, that the islands were given to Suriname but the River was given to Guyana. The Clause in question states: That none of the Islands situated in the River Corentine shall be comprehended in this provisional session, but shall still be considered as being under the jurisdiction of Suriname.
Peeping Tom did not respond to the minister’s plea for evidence of an agreement or other material which suggests that Suriname owns the Corentyne River. However, in our Sunday edition, Analyst took up the issue and pointed out the implied concession of Suriname’s ownership inherent in Guyana’s argument, which was accepted by the ICLOS Tribunal that the demarcation line into the Atlantic commenced at No. 61 Village, which is on the west bank of the Corentyne River. The Tribunal accepted Guyana’s argument.
If Guyana now argues otherwise, it would be confronted with a doctrine of law known as “estoppel,” which means that Guyana, having accepted that its boundary commenced on the west bank of the Corentyne River, cannot now be permitted to argue otherwise.
This argument is quite different from the one of “acquiescence” raised by Analyst, that having accepted Suriname’s exercise of jurisdiction over the Corentyne River for so many years, Guyana will have accepted the western bank as the boundary.
But to close the circle and answer the pleas of both the minister, to show an agreement, and Analyst, to read the original documents, we quote one of the opening paragraphs of the material portion of the Governor’s Agreement. It states:
That the west coast of the River Corentine as far as the Devil’s Creek which hitherto has been held to make part of and belong to the Colony of Suriname, and also the west bank of the said River, shall be placed under, and considered as belonging to, the Government of Berbice.
Any interpretation of this clause in the Governor’s Agreement other than that ONLY the land on the west bank and ONLY the land on the west coast of the Corentyne River belongs to Guyana would be utterly incredulous. The case is therefore made.
The minister’s contention that the clause first quoted above, that the islands in the river shall still be considered as being under the jurisdiction of Suriname leads to the conclusion that this implies that the river was being ceded to Guyana, defies the logic of the clause quoted immediately above.
Having regard to the above clause, the explanation on which the minister relies must be found elsewhere. It could well be that the parties were reaffirming a fact which may have been disputed by Berbice in the unsettled situation regarding the boundary prior to the agreement. There could be other explanations, but we cannot hide our heads in the sand in the face of clear facts.
This conclusion of this analysis is in no way unpatriotic. But we have to understand, and then accept, the realities, in order to arrive at an agreement with Suriname which will benefit Guyana. Bluster will not assist. This does not mean that we accept or should accept Suriname’s belligerence.
All Guyanese stand fully behind the Government in demanding that Suriname should cease the harassment of Guyanese fishermen and other users of the Corentyne River and engage in good faith negotiations with the Guyana Government to resolve this matter.

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