CARIBBEAN TODAY


FEATU RE


Guyana pleased with settlement of maritime dispute with Suriname


TERRENCE ESSEBOOM


GEORGETOWN, Guyana, -
In 1957 Sir Shridath Ramphal,
then a youthful employee in
the Legal Affairs Ministry
here, drafted the license per-
mitting California Oil to drill
for petroleum in the
Corentyne river which sepa-
rates Guyana from neighbor-
ing Suriname.
 In 2007 a half-a-century
later Sir Shridath boasts
that Guyana finally "won
gold" following the ruling of
the Hamburg-based Court
of Arbitration which gave the
country a 85 percent stake of
the disputed area, finally set-
tling the long-standing mar-
itime dispute between the two
states.
 But the two Caribbean
community (CARICOM)
countries "will forever be
neighbors," Sir Shridath said
at a press conference in
Georgetown last month as he
encouraged continued cooper-
ation between both.
 Sir Shridath, a former
commonwealth secretary gen-
eral, said the historic maritime
ruling "was a good day for
CARICOM and the rule of
international law," demonstrat-
ing that "the only lasting path
to the resolution of conflict is
lawful process and peaceful
means."

CONFUSION
 A great deal of confusion


agree with me j-7 j


that the
Guyana-
Suriname
Cooperation
Council
should be pro-
vided with the
necessary
mandate and
political sup-
port it
requires to


emerged last
month when
Suriname
President
Ronald
Venetiaan
declared victo-
ry for his
country Venetiaan
asserting that
under the award, Guyana
gained 51 percent and the
Dutch-speaking nation 49 per
cent of the controversial oil
and gas-rich maritime area.
 In reality the tribunal gave
Guyana "approximately two-
thirds of this area... and one-
third to Surname," said Paul
Reichler, one of experts who
pleaded Guyana's three-year
case before the five-man tribu-
nal.
 "The disparity is even
greater in Guyana's favor
when we consider the most
important part of the area in
dispute... where significant
deposits (of oil and gas) are
believed to exist. In that part
of the area of dispute, Guyana
received 85 per cent and
Suriname only 15 percent, a
ratio of five to one in Guyana's
favor," Reichler added.
 Suriname had also claimed
victory on the basis that mone-
tary compensation was not
given to Guyana for the June
2000 expulsion of the CGX oil
rig by Surinamese military
gunboats from the disputed
area.
 Reichler challenged these


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claims, noting that "Guyana
did not pursue monetary com-
pensation as a remedy for
Suriname's offence against the
CGX rig, contenting itself with
a request for the condemna-
tion that the tribunal has now
issued."
 Venetiaan also claimed
that Guyana's President
Bharrat Jagdeo, in a corre-
spondence, proposed joint
development of the offshore
hydrocarbon resources
between the
two countries.
 "There is
nothing in '
Jagdeo's letter
to Venetiaan
extending the .
hand of friend- '
ship that even
mentions, let Ramphal
alone propos-
es, joint development of off-
shore resources," Reichler said
when questioned by the local
press.
 The president said in his
letter: "I wish to reiterate to
you my commitment, and that
of my country men and
women, to cooperating with
you and the people of
Suriname towards hastening
the development of our two
countries through cooperation
for our mutual benefit."
 Continuing it said: "We do
have the mechanism in place
to realize our goal of learning
and benefiting from the experi-
ence of each other. I am, there-
fore, confident that you will


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 ADVERTISSWG DEAaME OCTOBER 26TH, 2007


accelerate
cooperation between our
countries."


the president said when
he addressed the nation
on Sept. 20 to announce
the tribunal's award.

FAVOR
 The Court of
Arbitration ruled in
Guyana's favour on all six
counts.
 "When I say that on
all these central issues
Guyana's interests and
objectives are met, I do
not mean to be triumphal-
ist. That, in any event,
would not be a proper
posture for our country to
adopt. In fact, the award
is in the interest of both
our countries and the
wider C,.ribblnai "Jagdeo

(CONTINUED ON
PAGE 27)


Area disputed by Guyana and Suriname.


Guyana and Suriname, and to
draw the boundary between
he maritime areas of Guyana
nd Suriname in a manner that
would be binding on both
countries for all time and
acknowledged by the interna-
ional community.
 In addition, the country
wanted "to confirm that the
ne of the boundary would be
influenced, above all, by the
principle of equidistance for
which Guyana had long con-
ended and for which Guyana's
national law provides, and to
ecure Guyana's sovereignty to
he resources of the sea-bed on
ts continental shelf on the basis
if an internationally recognized
maritime
oundary."
 The
Guyana gov-
rnment also
wanted all
icensees to
return to the
offshore area
where they Jagdeo
were exploring
 for oil in June 2000, when
 they were forced at gun-
 point by a Surinamese
 naval vessel to abandon
 their activities and evacu-
 ate the area".
 The final objective
 was "to achieve all this in
 a manner which allows
 Guyana and Suriname to
 cooperate as good neigh-
 bors and CARICOM
 partners in the develop-
 ment of their countries,"


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FINAL WORD
 The initial confusion of
interpretation of the ruling has
not troubled Guyana's legal
team, and according to Reichler,
Guyana has no intention of
approaching the tribunal for any
clarification on the matter.
 "The tribunal will not be
approached by Guyana for any
clarification but I cannot speak
for Suriname. The ruling is
final, but it must be made clear
that questions to clarify certain
things can be asked but no
arguments can be made. It
means that it cannot be
appealed," Reichler said.
 When Guyana undertook
arbitral proceedings against
Suriname, the Guyanese gov-
ernment had six goals, said
Jagdeo. These include: estab-
lishing that the rule of interna-
tional law, not the rule of
force, holds sway in CARI-
COM waters and more specifi-
cally in the maritime areas of


October 2007


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