Chaos erupts at union meeting of fire fighters: Warning shots fired to restore order

Chaos erupted at a general members’ meeting of the Association of Workers at the Fire Department Suriname around noon on Friday. The police were called to the scene to restore order. Reports indicate that several warning shots had to be fired. On the agenda was the matter of several union members who had been suspended but who also wanted to attend the union meeting. Union Chairman John Seedorf was reluctant to allow them to enter the conference room. Other union members who were in the conference room wanted to speak their mind but they were told to wait their turn. After a while they became unruly so the union meeting was adjourned. The union members deemed this unacceptable and kept the chairman from leaving the conference room. After the police were called to the scene, several policemen escorted the chairman and other union officials to their cars. The angry union members then closed the gate to keep the union officials from leaving the premises. One of the union members had also parked his car in front of the entrance to keep the union chairman from driving off. After several union members had surrounded the chairman’s car, a policeman fired several warning shots. The car that was blocking the driveway was removed so that the union chairman could leave with a police escort. Times of Suriname contacted the union chairman but he did not want to comment yet. The Fire Department Suriname issued a statement to indicate that it deemed the incident regrettable and made it clear that there are no tensions with the Police Force Suriname and the Ministry of Justice and Police.