President Desi Bouterse has once again extended the contract of the general manager at the State Oil Company (Staatsolie), Marc Waaldijk. A letter which Times of Suriname managed to obtain indicates that the new contract expires on May 1. It is expected that the current acting general manager, Rudolf Elias,  will take over after that date. Elias was initially supposed to take over on January 1 but his appointment did not go through due to “administrative formalities.” Since 2013 Waaldijk has indicated that he wants to retire but that he will run the company as long as the president wants him to remain at his post…[+]

The National Coordination Center for Disaster Relief (NCCR) does not want a permanent quarantine facility for Ebola cases, but is equipped to establish a quarantine facility within three to four hours for any Ebola case, if necessary, says Jerry Slijngaard, coordinator of NCCR. From that point we can expand, he says. According to Slijngaard it is not necessary to set up a permanent and professional quarantine area, of more than SRD 4 million, which will probably not be used at all…[+]

Members of the Combating International Drug Trafficking (BID) team arrested a 42-year-old Venezuelan, who was about to leave for the Netherlands, at the Johan Adolf Pengel International Airport Saturday. The general inspector of the Drugs Enforcement Agency, Dennis Becker, has confirmed the arrest…[+]

The Central Bank of Suriname (CBvS) has decided to directly intervene in the foreign exchange market as of today. After producing an ID card and a statement for which the currency is needed, people can buy foreign currency up to US$300 or 300 euro, CBvS reports in a press release. Through this action the bank wants help those people who occasionally need foreign exchange for a specific purpose…[+]

An 86-year-man was robbed and assaulted in his home located at Palm Village in the Commewijne District on Wednesday night. The victim sustained a injury in his forehead and had to be taken to the hospital by ambulance. The senior citizen was taken by surprise by two masked robbers when he opened the front door. The perpetrators who were armed with knives threatened the man and asked him where he kept his money. After the man had revealed where he had put his money, the robbers took the victim to a room upstairs...[+]

The court recently ruled that Pertjajah Luhur (PL) must pack up and leave its party center located along the Mangrovestraat within the next ten months. PL Chairman Paul Somohardjo made it clear that he won’t comply. “Nobody can evict us.” The court reportedly ruled in favor of NV Havenbeheer and indicated that the land up on which the party center of the PL party is located and where entrepreneur Rajen Pahladsingh conducts business belongs to the plaintiff, NV Havenbeheer. Somohardjo will reportedly lodge an appeal against the ruling. A judge had previously ruled in favor of PL…[+]

“During the general elections of May 25, 2015 about 53,000 citizens will go to the polls for the first time ever. About 41,000 of these voters turned 18 after May 25, 2010. About 12,000 people were entitled to vote but could not cast their vote due to circumstances,” said Sabitrie Gangapersad, chairwoman of the 2015 Elections Information Committee, told Times of Suriname…[+]

Many voters often had to travel long distances to cast their votes but this will become a thing of the past because about 50 polling stations have been added to the existing number of polling stations nationwide. It is hoped that this measure will increase voter turnout on election day, May 25. Officials hope that voter turnout will be higher this year than the percentage of 2010. Voter turnout was reportedly 75.4% in 2010. Minister of Home Affairs (Biza) Edmund Leiles, pointed out that the current polling stations are already being inspected. “We are checking to see if they still look good. If they don’t, we fix them.” Next moth the district commissioners who will be the chairmen of the polling stations in their districts will receive their first set of instructions…[+]

A 14-year-old student on Monday afternoon stabbed her 15-year-old male classmate several times with a pair of scissors. The stabbing incident reportedly took place around 1 p.m. in the Brokopondo District. The suspect had reportedly told the boy that she would cut his hair after school. The boy responded by slapping her once in the face…[+]

“The trade between Suriname and India is blooming,” said India’s ambassador to Suriname, Subashini Murugesan , at a reception that was held at her residence on Monday in celebration of India’s 65^th Republic Day. According to Ambassador Murugesan, trade between both nations had an estimated value of about $ 15 million in 2012 and $ 37 million in 2013 and 2014. “In the period April-October 2014 trade between both nations had netted $ 30 million and because of this it was decided that the first joint business council meeting should be organized so that more opportunities could be created for companies from both nations to do business with each other…[+]