Parliament says Paranam refinery dismantling is illegal

Parliament on Tuesday made it clear that it is not happy about the planned dismantling of the alumina refinery at Paranam and the fact that it also still has not received the revised Brokopondo agreement. Both the government and parliament concluded that the agreement has been ended and that it must still be formalized by law. Because of this the Brokopondo agreement is in fact still in effect and that the dismantling of the refinery which is already in an advanced phase is in fact illegal. “The current dismantling and the preparations that are being made are in fact illegal,” said MP Andre Misiekaba (NDP) on behalf of all the coalition parties in parliament. MP Misiekaba can count on the support of the chairwoman of parliament, Jennifer Geerlings-Simons, and all of the opposition factions. The government reportedly plans on sending the revised Brokopondo agreement to parliament around September 25. By then the revised agreement will be considered a proposal that will be judged by parliament. The nation’s legislators made it clear, however, that they want to receive the revised Brokopondo agreement as soon as possible so that they can review it. They pointed out that things are in motion that are in violation of the agreement. The MPs from the opposition made it clear that they are not happy about the government’s attitude on the Alcoa issue. “The coalition faction is happy about the fact that despite one, two or three promises we still have not received the revised Brokopondo agreement,” said MP Misiekaba on behalf of the factions of the National Democratic Party (NDP), the Brotherhood and Unity in Politics and the Reform and Renewal Movement.