“People still go swimming in Para District”

Many people recently flocked to the many creeks located along the road to West Suriname to take a swim and have fun. Jan Sodikromo, manager at Marinalex Recreational Resort, told Times of Suriname that many people still go swimming in the creeks located along the road in the Para District. The district commissioner of Para, Armand Jurel, has already taken several measures to stop the spread of the novel coronavirus, COVID-19. The recreational resorts in the Para District have been instructed to remain closed as part of the preventative measures. Sodikromo explained that many people still flock to the district despite the ban on swimming. People who were spotted at the creek near the Coesewij-nebrug even put up tents and spent the night there. Sodikromo pointed out that the DC takes action against the recreational resorts but that he fails to take action against people who set up camp at the creeks located along the roads. “I had taken several precautionary measures so that I could keep running my resort. I had made preparations to receive only 100 visitors per day and I was not going to rent out all huts but only 5. But the DC then decided that all the recreational resorts must remain closed until further notice. DC Jurel told Times of Suriname that he was not aware that people had gone swimming in the creeks located along the road. He did point out that a group of people had been spotted in one of the creeks and that this group turned out to be a family. “The police explained to them that it was not allowed to go swimming so they packed up and left. It is possible that people make a quick stop alongside the road and that they take a quick swim to cool off when they come from West Suriname because the road is 347 kilometers long,” said the DC who added that he did not believe that people leave their homes just to go swimming in the Para District.