Residents fear ammonium nitrate:

Security increased around warehouse

“The safety and security around a warehouse at Flora where a quantity of ammonium nitrate is stored has been increased,” Jerry Slijngard, coordinator at the National Coordination Center for Disaster Control (NCCR) told Times of Suriname. Citizens and in particular the Flora residents expressed their concerns regarding the presence of ammonium nitrate after a devastating explosion which took place in Beirut on August 4 killed at least 200 people and injured around 5,000 others. That blast wave leveled buildings near the port and caused extensive damage over much of the rest of the capital, which is home to two million people. Hospitals were quickly overwhelmed. Beirut Governor Marwan Abboud said as many as 300,000 people had been made temporarily homeless and that collective losses might reach $10-15bn. Slijngard pointed out that the NCCR, Nimos, the National Security Service (DNV), Newmont Suriname, Rosebel Goldmines, The Ministry of Defense, the Fire Department Suriname (KBS) and Haukes assembled on Monday to discuss the issue. “We can assure the people that we are addressing the matter very seriously. Various institutes are busy making an inventory of the situation. No there is no immediate danger for the public. I want to put everybody’s mind at ease which is why we are doing all we can to address the matter in a professional manner,” said the NCCR coordinator. Security cameras have been installed around the warehouse at Flora by the gold mining companies that have stored ammonium nitrate there. Rosebel Gold Mines and New Mont use ammonium nitrate for the mining activities on their concessions. The NCCR coordinator pointed out that moving the ammonium nitrate is not an option right now because there is no other storage facility for it. He assured the nation that the various stakeholders keep monitoring everything to prevent a calamity.