Title: Pikin Slee Village Joins Together to Protect Forest
Source: De Groene Amsterdammer
Status: Copyrighted, contact source to reprint
Date: 4/1/98
Byline: Iwan Brave

GOLD, COKE AND MALARIA
by Iwan Brave

Originally published in De Groene Amsterdammer, 1 April 1998.
Translated from Dutch by Marco Bleeker.

The Venetiaan administration sold the rainforest bit by bit. But the
current Bouterse minded NDP government is having a sell-off. Over half
the territory of Suriname is already in concession. A few people are
getting very rich from this. The inhabitants of the interior are being
ignored. Time to get together. Like in a village by the name of Pikin
Slee.

PIKIN SLEE - Both English and Saramaccan is heared in the open meeting
hall of the Maroon village Pikin Slee on the upper Suriname river.
There is a blackboard on the platform, showing a wavy line with little
circles on both sides. They represent the river and small villages in
the river valley. Symbols designate hunting areas and cultivated
fields. Just like a school lesson in geography. But the attentive
representatives of the villages know better.

It's a workshop "know your land rights" by Fergus Mackay, human rights
lawyer from London, working for Forest Peoples Programme. The workshop
is a warming up for the Krutu (tribal council) that will be held the
next day. The existance of the villages is threatened by new timber
and gold concessions, that are violating the rights of the population
of the interior.

The rainforest is of vital importance for the Surinamese descendents
of escaped slaves. Not just culturally or religiously, but every
village needs an area with a radius of 30 km for hunting, fishing,
medicinal plants and construction materials, as well as for
agricultural fields. People wash themselves in the rivers. Drinking
water comes from attributary creeks. And then there are places in the
forest where the dead are buried and where holy rites are performed.

FIVE THOUSEND inhabitants counts Pikin Slee, beautifully situated in a
wide bend of the murmuring Upper Suriname river, the second largest
village of the Saramaccaner Maroons. It can only be reached by canoe.
A stranger will easily loose his way between all these similar huts,
with roofs made of palm leaves. The other side of the river now has an
inviting sandy beach, due to the low waterlevel. Where the shore is
meters high, there is a stone staircase to the 'wash place' where the
women -often half naked- wash their cloth or cooking gear, or catch
fish. Children play there, completely naked.

Peanuts and vegetables are planted inside the village, but the real
agricultural fields (kostgrond) are miles away. Pikin Slee is a pagan
village. There is no church, the people practice obia and winti
rituals. At the entrance of the village is an azan pau, a sort of gate
made of dry, young leaves of the palm tree. Who comes from the
outside, must pass underneith it, 'to brush off evil'. Goats are not
welcome, they could bring bad luck. During its history Pikin Slee has
been moved several times, because a kunu (curse) became attached to
the village, as a result of manslaughter. The s%k%ti is popular here,
a ceremony of women who sing about their disappointment or their joy,
while others stand around, clap hands rhythmicly and dance with small
paces. Short: Pikin Slee is full of authentic culture and religion.

ALL THIS might be lost, if the issuing of further logging and mining
concessions is not put to a stop. A handful of top-politicians and
their friends are getting enormously rich from this. Bouterse and some
other military chiefs like Boerenveen and Linscheer collected
concessions for themselves and others. Harvey Naarendorp, minister of
Foreign Affairs during the military government in the 80's and today
ambassador in Trinidad, owns, together with his cousin Henk, 6 logging
and gold concessions under the name of NaNa (Naarendorp & Naarendorp)
Resources. Under the previous Venetiaan administration, the Javanese
leader 'Silent Willy' Soemita paved the way for the Indonesion timber
company Musa. The Hindu clan around Mr. Mungra invited Beryaya. The
name of Ivan Graanoogst, governmental advisor and assistant of
Bouterse, pops up as contact man for Barito, a new company that got a
concession of 600,000 hectare (1.5 million acre) following the visit
of president Wijdenbosch to Indonesia, in october 1997.

During the Venetiaan adminstration the forest was sold bit by bit, but
under the current Bouterse minded NDP-government we see total
sell-off. At least half - some say much more - of Surinamese territory
is already in concession, for either exploitation or exploration. And
for all these issues the same applies: the inhabitants of the interior
are treated as if they don't exist.

So they'll have to manifest themselves. The lawyer Mr. Mackay is
teaching them how to map their 'lands for hunting and living'. He
tells the villagers that their land rights are internationally
recognized, on the basis of 'occupation and use'. And the maps serve
as 'official document'. He advises his audience to collectively draw a
map, in order to prevent concessions from driving a wedge between the
villages. He illustrates this by drawing angular squares between the
circles, then erases them, and draws a wide, wavy ellipse around the
whole river basin. His audience expresses it's approval.

'Not to recognize or respect land rights is a violation of
international human rights treaties' says Mackay. It seems that the
population of the interior may only be saved by the OAS (Organization
of American States) or the UN, if they force Suriname to respect land
rights. The Trio Indians are further advanced with their land maps and
they claim almost all of South Suriname. 'It might not be entirely
realistic, but it is a starting position for negotiations' says
Mackay.

THE NEXT MORNING, the rhythm of the apinti drum echoes through the
village, announcing the beginning of the Krutu. The meeting hall fills
up, mostly with men. Women and children choose a modest place near the
entrances. On the first row are the Basjas, dressed in panjis. They
are second in rank, after the Captains of the villages. The village
Elders are sitting opposite the Basjas, facing them, with their backs
to the platform. The village Captains sit on the platform, nearly
motionless, in two rows. With their brown caps and colorful dresses,
it looks like they will wait for hours until an official photo has
been taken.

Outside flies the national flag. The opening rituals start with a
libation, which should appeace the ancestors. Because there are also
Christian villages present in the krutu, there is now a series of
prayers and citations from the Saramaccan translation of the Bible.
Not before an hour has passed, and after the national hymn has been
sung, may the Captains start to speak, each in turn. When one of them
has the word, he addresses a Basja, and the Basja confirms his words:
'Yes, that is true, you are not lying, it is as you say'. The rhythm
in this manner of speach guarantees that everyone's attention stays
focussed.

Tacoba is another new timber company that was invited to the country
last year, after Bouterse came back from China in triumph, with some
gratuities. The company got a timber concession and two 'incidental'
logging permits, together good for over 150,000 hectare (370,000
acre).

In the case of Tacoba, the villagers were suddenly confronted with
numerous 'Chinese Chinese' (as opposed to Surinamese Chinese), with
whome they could not communicate, and also with armed men who forbid
them to open up fields for agriculture. The Captain of an
'encapsulated' village reports with trembling voice how the Chinese
shit everywhere, violating all rules of hygiene.

An atmosphere of desperation arises. Many people present did not
believe these rumours before, but now they hear it from the members of
their own tribe. It is their greatest fear, not to be able to go to
the forest. Sad enough, the direct reason for this krutu is the fact
that 'even' Granman (Chief of the tribe) Songo Aboikoni did apply for
a gold and logging concession for the area - behind the backs of his
subjects.

'One thing must be clear' says the Captain of Pikin Slee with strong
voice, 'it is not our intention to fight again for this forest. Our
ancestors did that already.' Another Captain: 'We were not taken all
the way from Africa to be sold here again'.

The commotion increases when it is reported that a 're-registration'
of hunting rifles will soon take place. The last one was 10 years ago.
Who does not have a valid permit will have to 'temporarily' hand over
his rifle. There is almost nobody who still has this piece of paper.
One of the people present points out the 'true intention' of this
measure: this re-registration makes the people of the interior
powerless in advance, in case the situation should escalate. 'This
government is not the same as the previous one of two years ago' he
says, refering to the military background of the NDP. 'So let them
come here and try to arrest us or try to confiscate our hunting
rifles' says a fierce voice from the audience.

When the evening approaches, and the Krutu has ended with a s%k%ti
dance and the apinti drum, all that's left is a general feeling of
disbelief. It was decided to send a delegation to the Granman, and ask
him whether he really acted 'in the best interest of his people', as
he claims.

IF THE KRUTU, where every Captain can have his say, is exemplary for
the effectivity of the Maroon responce, we may fear the worst. The
rate at which logging is going on, and the speed at which rivers are
polluted with heavy metals from goldmining, is many times higher.

The Indonesian timber companies claim to exploit the forest in a
sustainable manner. Regarding their bad reputation, this is very
questionable. Musa has been put under guardianship in their own
country, because of their 'destructive' logging methods. Beryaya was
banned from the Solomon Islands, because of 'attempt to bribe
government officials'. And Barito was involved in illegal destruction
of communal forests in South Sumatra.

Sustainability is also in Suriname an empty keyword. 'It is the task
of the government to supervise production, but there are so many
bribes passing over and under the table that they can do as they
please' says a biologist. He believes that Bouterse 'personally and as
a go-between' supplies logs to Musa.

'The reality is hit and run' confirms Roy Hilgerink, who is a forestry
specialist of the department of Bostoezicht (Forest Control) of Lands
Bosbeheer (LBB, National Forestry Department). This department is in
charge of supervision, but only has three landrovers. Roads are made
in the forest, without any previous recognition. When they happen upon
a swamp, the bulldozers just change direction. Sometimes hills must
give way. Creeks are filled up, thus causing small artificial lakes,
and they in turn are causing parts of the forest to die. 'That's a
practice I see mainly with Musa' says Hilgerink, who is showing aerial
photographs.

Hilgerink describes the situation of foreign loggers as
'exploitation'. 'Those guys get a chainsaw and are left alone in the
forest. They level as many trees as they can, because they are payed
by the cubic meter. Much of the wood is rejected later on.'

While a few individuals are getting very rich from these concessions,
there is hardly anything flowing into the state's treasury. Companies
are enjoying a 'tax-break' of 5 years. And the tax laws themselves are
from 1947, completely outdated, certainly when you look at recent
hyperinflation. Per log the average 'retribution' still is 5
Surinamese guilders, which is about 1 cent today. LBB touched 2.7
million Surinamese guilders last year. 'You can't even keep a car on
the road from that' says Hilgerink. He also tells the story of a high
government official, who had a side job in lumber trade. There was a
proposal to augment retribution to 3 dollars per log - but in his own
best interest he put this proposal 'in his desk drawer'.

GOLDMINING made the situation critical. Rivers and creeks are being
polluted at a high rate. Canadian companies Golden Star and Cambior
are working near the village of Nieuw Koffiekamp. In Guyana, Golden
Star caused the largest pollution disaster since 20 years. In 1995 all
life was extinguished from river Omai, as a result of severe cyanide
pollution, following a dam breach.

The gold reserves in Nieuw Koffiekamp are estimated at 2.4 million
ounces. Just like anywhere, local land rights are ignored and the
population is kept out by armed people.

There are thousends of 'garimpeiros' in the interior at the moment.
There is 'no supervision at all' on the working methods of these
Brazilian goldminers. 'These individual goldminers cause an ecological
disaster' says Hilgerink. 'I am not an expert where mining is
concerned, but when you see all these discoloured rivers from the air,
you know something is terribly wrong. And thanks to the roads of the
logging companies, the forest is conveniently opened up for these
goldminers.'

In Guyana and Brazil the army chases the garimpeiros out, but in
Suriname they can 'do as they please', just like the loggers.
Moreover, in the Marowijne area, in Eastern Suriname, which probably
holds the largests gold reserves, the military are involved in mining.
This territory of the Aukaner Maroons (Ndyuka) is known as 'gold, coke
and many cases of malaria'.

DESI BOUTERSE reassured the population of the interior during his
election campain in 1996: the NDP would put a halt to the sale of the
forest. They all creduously voted for the NDP.

Now it turns out that Bouterse is the sly fox, preaching Passion. On a
regular basis the interior recieves tools, cassave graters, outboard
engines, electricity generators and telecommunication posts. 'But
those are all sops' says Hugo Jabini (35), president of the NDP-branch
in the Boven-Suriname region. 'In the mean time, billions of Suriname
guilders worth are taken out of the forest, and perhaps just 20
Maroons get a job there, at a meager wage.'

Jabini also complains about the undervaluation of Maroons during the
formation of the government. 'None of us became became Minister or
Secretary of State. High ranking people sometimes attend festivities,
usually bringing much liquor and food, but local people don't get a
chance to talk with them.' The Krutu was an initiative of Jabini and
others, who wanted to expose the sly practices of Granman Aboikoni.
Quite revolutionary, because in Saramaccan tradition it is not done to
openly debate the acts of a Granman.

The NDP is also getting tired of this revolutionary attitude of
Jabini. On the day after the Krutu he was carpeted. 'Their reproach is
that I am mixing in politics, but the only thing I want is to be
receptive and to make my people aware of their land rights. As
ordinary citizen your are not allowed to make any demands in
Suriname'. Jabini says he does not want to let the NDP down. 'But when
our interests are in danger, they will find me in their way. Nobody
should be surprised then, when armed escalations will occur in the
interior. If people can't get their rights through normal channels,
you force them to radical action.'

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