Problems at home while heads of state are gone

Happy Monday

Last week's news was dominated by the revitalized protests from the police union after two chiefs of police were fired. The IDB approved the 2nd tranche of the $150m loan this week as part of the Recovery Plan. Lastly, disgraced ex-governor Robert van Trikt, and ex-director of the Surinamese Postspaarbank, Ginmardo Kromosoeto, were recently put on provisional release.

Chief Inspectors Raoul Hellings and Sergio Gentle have been fired due to serious neglect of duty, as stated in the letter received Monday.

They are accused of serious neglect of duty and thus the penalty imposed is dismissal from state service. The resignation resolution was endorsed by President Chan Santokhi, according to sources. Furthermore, Vice President Ronnie Brunswijk declared being unaware of this issue and urged them to speak with the President. A meeting had been called within the police union.

Until their meeting with the President, they had decided the best course of action was to stop all police work and protest on the street, thereby causing heavy traffic issues and economic slowdowns. They had encouraged the Military Union and the general public to join.

Hellings and Gentle were two of the Organic Movement's pioneers. They are charged with, among other things, being illegally absent from work. Service resources would also have been deployed during the actions. The pair have denied being guilty of the charges.

Last weekend discussions were had between the police union and the President's team to come to a solution.

The IDB recently approved the 2nd tranche of $150m for Suriname.

As part of the US$500 million budget and project support, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) has approved a US$150 million loan. These funds also support the co-financing of the announced expansion of the government's social safety net. Furthermore, this influx of US dollars represents a massive strengthening of the country's currency position. The half billion US dollar has been earmarked for the next three years for the Recovery Plan supported by the IMF Extended Fund Facility.

This tranche of the IDB is the second for this year. The first tranche of US$50 million was made available in April. The conditions of this loan are largely in line with the prior actions and performance criteria of the IMF programme. The evaluations that take place on an annual basis are both quantitative and qualitative in nature. This approval implicitly indicates that the government is well on its way to making the Surinamese economy healthy, according to a press release from the Suriname Communications Service.

In addition to the institutional strengthening of the government, the strengthening of state finances is also central to this loan. The funds will be transferred in the coming weeks and will be made available to the budget. It is envisaged that in 2023 and 2024 the same amount of US$150 million each year will be made available after the evaluations, which will also be based on more or less the same performance indicators as in the IMF programme.

Disgraced Ex-governor of the Central Bank of Suriname, Robert van Trikt, and ex-director of the Surinamese Postal Savings Bank, Ginmardo Kromosoeto were given provisional release from prison this week.

Van Trikt was released on humanitarian grounds. His medical situation has been taken into account in this decision by the council chamber consisting of judges Anand Charan, Duncan Nanhoe, and Soebhaas Punwasi. Defects in the verdict were not the reason that Van Trikt and Kromosoeto were released.

As far as Kromosoeto is concerned, the court has ruled that he is the only one who has not received a reduced sentence as a first offender. On this basis, he is currently free. There, too, arguments about defects in the judgment were not included.

The court has demanded that Van Trikt and Kromosoeto are not allowed to flee the country. They must be present at every session. Both agreed to the terms.

President Santokhi brings attention to climate finance during COP 27.

President Santokhi spoke at the COP27 climate conference on November 8, commenting on the few signs of action from countries to comply with the Paris agreement since his speech at COP26. He mentioned that Suriname is one of three countries with negative CO2 emissions, but is still at high risk of climate effects due to rising sea levels and a low coastline.

Suriname has created an investment plan, Our National Climate Agreement, soon to be implemented gives priority to the country’s clean energy goals as it already receives 50% of energy from renewables. He has also mentioned the Caribbean as a whole which has taken out loans to tackle climate change which hinders development.

Santokhi called upon the international community to deliver on its pledges to comply with existing accords in the fight against climate change.