SURINAME – The arrival of the Kaloti Suriname Mint House is very disadvantageous to the State,” said MP Arthur Tjin A Tsoi ( NF/NPS) who explained that the deal gives the  Kaloti Suriname Mint House a monopolistic position for the next fifteen years. The legislator pointed out that officials failed to check if rules of the  World Trade Organization, Caricom and  Unasur were violated by closing this deal…[+]

SURINAME – MP  Mahinder Jogi (NF/VHP) on Monday pointed out that rice farmers are being ‘treated’ unfairly. He explained that paddy is being exported from Suriname to Venezuela for $ 360 per ton while Guyana exports the same paddy to Venezuela for $ 520 per ton. The rice exports are part of the PetroCaribe scheme. MP Jogi made it clear that this is ruining the Surinamese rice sector. MP Jogi explained that Guyana gets $ 160 more per bag which according to him means that the government is not acting in the rice farmers’ best interest…[+]

SURINAME – Baasa was the first political party to lodge an objection against the decision of the Central Main Voting Bureau (CHS) at President Desire Bouterse. The CHS recently announced that Baasa cannot participate in the general elections. The objection which will be reviewed by the president had to be handed in at the Ministry of Interior Affairs (Biza)…[+]

SURINAME – Pictures of each parliamentary candidate will be added to the  ballot papers that will be used during the general elections of May 2015. During the previous elections only the pictures of the persons heading the list of candidates were on the lists. The chairman of the Elections 2015 Policy Commission, Lothar Boksteen, told  Times of Suriname  that this decision is aimed at reducing the number of invalid votes.  Boksteen pointed out that this measure is also aimed at ‘helping’ those who cannot read properly or who  are illiterate…[+]

SURINAME – The registration period for the Staatsolie bond loans commenced at the main office of De Surinaamsche Bank (DSB) on Monday. Staatsolie (State Oil Company) aims at raking in $ 55 million with its second bond loan so that it can finance a portion of its 2015-2020 investment program. Current bond holders are being given the trade-in option. The female investor who was the first to sign the registration list was also the first person when Staatsolie issued its first bond loans five years ago. She pointed out that she really wanted to extend her investment…[+]

SURINAME – Environmental Planning, Land and Forest Management (RGB) Minister Steven Relyveld told Times of Suriname that  15,000 land documents have already been handed out these past two years and that he is currently getting ready to hand out more land documents in the districts Wanica, Para and Nickerie. Officials will reportedly start cutting up Stalweide into lots. Stalweide is located in Suriname’s rice district, Nickerie.(foto:paul-trans.ro)…[+]

SURINAME – The Surinamese government has  agreed to export 50,000 tons of white rice to Brazil. “Next week we will leave for Brazil to complete the formalities. The market is already guaranteed,” Foreign Affairs (Buza) Minister Winston Lackin told Times of Suriname. As soon as the deal is official, the rice will be exported to Brazil. Minister Lackin explained that the government has found a new market for Surinamese rice…[+]

SURINAME – Criminals on Friday night broke into a car dealership/ auto repair shop located along the Indira Gandhiweg. The owner told Times of Suriname that the criminals broke the safe and made off with SRD 40,000, €1,500 and $1,700. The perpetrators broke into the building through the roof. They then broke through the ceiling to gain access to the office where the safe is located...[+]

SURINAME – A 19-year-old boy was recently arrested on theft charges. The suspect has reportedly confessed to the police that he had already stolen clothes four to five times from a store. The female storekeeper reportedly caught the teen shoplifter red-handed and notified the police. The suspect told the police that his clothes had been stolen from clothesline several days prior to his arrest…[+]

SURINAME – “Good things must be rewarded and bad things must be punished but this administration is doing things the other way around,” said MP Chandrikapersad Santokhi, chairman of the Progressive Reform Party (VHP), in Parliament on Friday. The construction of a railroad is reportedly not being mentioned in the development plan. MP Santokhi therefore deems this step by the government very “suspicious” and warned Parliament and the nation for the consequences of the government’s railroad project. He asked the government if a claim will be filed…[+]