Guyana and Suriname in row over border river as business community calls for urgent talks.

Border tensions between Guyana and Suriname are flaring up again, and this time they involve what Guyanese officials describe as unreasonable charges being imposed on Guyanese users of the Corentyne River, which is owned by Suriname.

Twenty-six years ago, in the late 1990s, the two Caribbean Community nations approached the brink of military conflict over the precise location of an offshore oil well in the Atlantic.

Now, the dispute centers on the river separating the nations, whereas previously, both sides claimed the contested oil well was in their respective marine territories. After Surinamese gunboats expelled Guyanese exploration and support vessels in 2000, Guyana pursued international arbitration and largely prevailed in securing a newly demarcated offshore border. Both countries have since discovered significant oil and gas reserves in the same area that sparked the 1999-2000 dispute.

But the row over joint use of the Corentyne remains.

Guyanese officials, including President Irfaan Ali, are complaining bitterly about what they say are unreasonable and unconscionable fees being imposed by Surinamese officials for use of the waterway.

Surinamese officials, including prominent attorney Aashna Kanhai, say these rates are nothing new and that officials should discuss the issue at a roundtable soon, even as Guyana has sent a formal protest note to Paramaribo. The rates range from US$2,500 for pilot license fees per trip to $1,000-$1,500 for logistics brokerage. Ali says the new tax regime will crush businesses along the vast river.

So angry are officials on the Guyana side that the influential Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry wants progress on a new, internationally funded river bridge halted until the issue is settled entirely.

“The GCC calls on the government of Guyana to halt discussions on the development of the Corentyne River Bridge linking Guyana and Suriname unless these issues are permanently resolved. The pursuit of Suriname of this illegal claim seems to be one of the key motivations for the creation of impediments to the rapid pace of development being undertaken in Guyana, including in Berbice, and aimed at preventing this country from reaching its peak potential,” the body said in a statement.

Guyanese officials say that Suriname owns a river that should be jointly used and owned because of problems linked to the Dutch and British colonial system of settling border lines without consideration for the future.

Surinamese officials say there is a protocol to settle disputes. “If Guyana wishes to further discuss the exemption granted at the time or to request an extension thereof, this may be submitted to Suriname through the usual diplomatic channels, in order to ascertain whether this is possible and in what form,” a statement noted.

As the offshore marine line has been settled and as the current row over river fees engages officials, there is yet a third territorial dispute involving the New River Triangle bordering the two nations to the deep south. Like the river, this remains unresolved, officials say.