Bouterse livid over `manipulation’ of land rights conference

(De Ware Tijd) PARAMARIBO – At a press conference yesterday, President Desi Bouterse expressed anger at the Association of Indigenous Village Heads (VIDS) and its representative Carlo Lewis. This organization “hijacked” the first official last weekend with a resolution that is “contrary to the Constitution”, so the President decided to end the conference early. Although the resolution contains many acceptable ideas, it contains “impossible” demands that could harm the nation, according to Bouterse. It mentions “right to self-determination” and “property rights” to all that is found “above and under the ground” in their territories. The later is mainly a reference to natural resources such as gold and bauxite. The President pointed out that he absolutely cannot accept this. As traditional leaders agreed to the resolution with “much fanfare and fuss”, the President said in a statement that the document will be presented to Parliament, which represents the entire people. “And I can tell you now that when this document reaches Parliament, it will never be accepted. And then we will fall behind another fifteen years”, Bouterse said at the press conference. The President was particularly angry about the fact that nearly all leaders present, such as village heads, tribal leaders and paramount chiefs (granmans) had signed the document while all indications were that everyone was satisfied with the arrangements that gradually emerged at conference. The President paints a picture of “manipulating” and fooling people, when it emerges that moments before they signed the document, these very same leaders were full of praise for the government and the Land Rights Commission (CGS) and the outstanding effort to finally solve the lingering issue.