“Renegotiating with Alcoa/ Suralco not possible”

“We will not renegotiate with Alcoa/ Suralco. That is no longer possible,” said Natural Resources Minister Sergio Akiemboto during the second day of the discussion of the Brokopondo Agreement Revision Law on Friday. Despite the recommendations of several legislators, the minister made it clear that “that phase has already been completed.” “The bill is in front of us and we can talk about the confusion, misconception and the difference of insight by including them in the transaction protocol,” said Minister Akiemboto who mentioned several facts to remind them that they can’t be reversed. “The fact remains that an agreement was closed with Alcoa/ Suralco in 1958. Afterwards it became clear that certain things that we need now to terminate the deal are missing. The fact also remains that there were new negotiations in 1999 regarding the price of electricity and that a certain formula was used. It is also important to point out that Suriname’s partner, Suralco, eventually indicated that it was no longer profitable to continue with its activities in Suriname. Suriname then determined that it would not be profitable to take over the ‘business.’ We must take all of this into account when we talk about this issue regarding the Brokopondo Agreement,” said the minister who pointed out that there are several legislators who want to renegotiate the entire Brokopondo Agreement in order to terminate the deal with Alcoa/ Suralco. “That is not the solution. If we had held on to the Brokopondo Agreement, we would not have reached any agreements with Alcoa/ Suralco regarding the environment issues. “That is why we opted for revising the Brokopondo Agreement and ending the collaboration with Alcoa/ Suralco,” said Minister Akiemboto who added that the Suriname should learn a wise lesson for the future from the current situation with Alcoa/ Suralco. “No matter which mineral we are talking about, one day there will be no more of it. We must already start thinking about the next step in case we run out of gold or crude oil or the companies that exploit them decide to call it quits. We knew that Alcoa/ Suralco would call it quits one day but we could not have predicted that it would happen prematurely. But now we must discuss it and move on,” said Minister Akiemboto. MP Rashied Doekhie (NDP) on Friday made it clear that the presidential negotiating committee which consists of true Surinamese citizens managed to reel in the Afobakka Dam. According to the Brokopondo Agreement, Suirname would get the dam in 2033. He slammed the opposition and pointed out that the presidential team of negotiators managed to get the year changed to 2019. He made it clear that the team deserves praise instead of criticism. “Nobody is talking about the fact that Suriname will save about $6 million per month. “As of January we will have at least $6 million at our disposal.”