New Maritime Security Council to strengthen oversight and cooperation at sea

The installation took place at the Kabinet van de President. According to Simons, the functioning of the council is not only the responsibility of chairman Bob Mangal, but of all the bodies involved. She stressed that cooperation, proper data collection and continuous monitoring are necessary to maintain maritime security.

Various bodies are represented on the council, including the Maritieme Autoriteit Suriname (MAS), the Navy, the Coast Guard, the Korps Politie Suriname (KPS), the Openbaar Ministerie (OM), the National Security adviser and the Ministry of Justice and Security.

Minister of Justice and Security Harish Monorath, who is currently also acting at the Ministry of Transport, Communication and Tourism (TCT), expressed his satisfaction with the installation. According to him, the council must now be further developed and its tasks must actually be operationalised.

Chairman Bob Mangal says that, together with various stakeholders, the council will be responsible for coordinating, inspecting and monitoring activities within the maritime domain.

“It is essentially a form of cooperation to keep an eye on all matters concerning the maritime domain, so that we do not fall behind on anything,” Mangal told the Communicatie Dienst Suriname.

According to him, the establishment of the council is also important because of international obligations that Suriname must meet. Proper oversight must, according to the chairman, prevent the country from being called to account internationally for shortcomings or running the risk of measures such as being placed on international blacklists.

Following the installation, arrangements were made to hold the first meeting in the short term. That meeting must determine which areas will receive first priority.

“From there, we will set out our strategy and identify which areas have priority,” Mangal said.

The council will regularly inform the president about developments and assessments within the maritime domain. According to Mangal, this requires a strong oversight mechanism in which all the bodies involved work closely together.

He expects that the council can also contribute to better compliance with national and international obligations that have posed challenges in the past.

“We are not in an ideal situation, but there is a willingness to tackle the matter now,” Mangal said. According to him, with support from the cabinet, the council now has the means and authority to address various bottlenecks within the maritime sector.