Latest update September 25th, 2026 10:30 AM
Aug 06, 2020 News
With hundreds of families affected due to the closure of the Corentyne River for the past five months, the fishers are asking for the river to reopen. They said that they are willing to comply with any COVID-19 measures.
President of the Upper Corentyne Chamber of Commerce & Industry, Mohindra Persaud, yesterday wrote a letter to the Chairman of the Private Sector Commission, Capt. Gerry Gouveia. In the letter, he stated that the Upper Corentyne Fishing Industry has been affected by the closure of the Corentyne River due to COVID-19. The letter further noted that over 200 families are affected directly because of the closure of the river, leaving the fishers without a job since this is their only source of income.
Persaud stated that the UCCI is suggesting that all organization must be committed to take all necessary precautions to ensure the safety of all employees, customers and communities. They have to follow the advice of the public health authorities and proactively implement a range of precautionary measures.
After Guyana recorded its first case of the novel Coronavirus Disease in March 2020, a temporary ban on fishing was implemented and ever since the fishers have been pleading for assistance and for the Guyana Government to get the Suriname authorities to allow them to fish. The Suriname authorities, as part of their COVID-19 measures, are not allowing fishers in the waters they patrol.
The fishing industry is one of the industries badly affected by COVID-1, since fishermen are unable to venture out to sea to ply their trade in the Upper Corentyne. The water falls (water-falling spots are ideal for nesting and spawning of fishes) in Suriname’s jurisdiction.
In the past, the fishing industry was overwhelmed with piracy attacks but this is an entirely new scenario that has battered the industry with no indications of how it will recover.
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