Separate basins

Dear Editor,

Local news outlets must stop making headlines and captioning figures as the “Guyana/Suriname Basin” when referring to oil exploration in Guyana’s territory. This area has now been legally demarcated in keeping with international law.

The oil company CGX is retaining 93 per cent of the Guyana granted Corentyne licence and this area, within our borders, must not have the name Suriname attached to it. That country also has a legally defined boundary in which to search for oil. There is now a Guyana basin and a Suriname basin.

With reports of some officials in Suriname spreading misinformation about the ruling of the UN Tribunal on the Law of the Sea, it is critically important that we in Guyana make accurate distinctions in our news reports.

Yours faithfully,

Justin de Freitas