The chairman of the Para Federation, Hesdy Ommen, told Suriname Herald that the Ministry of Land Policy and Forest Management (GBB) has not taken its responsibility. According to him, there has been a court ruling on the lands in Berlin since 2023 that must be implemented.
“If the GLIS extract indicates that the land has been allocated to the state, it means that the ruling is not being followed. GBB must carry out what the court has determined. The ruling has not been implemented, and that is what needs to happen now,” says Ommen.
According to him, the ruling was issued in February 2023. It stated that within two months of the notification of the decision, the right to lease the land for agricultural purposes should be transferred to the Berlin foundation board.
The reason for the lawsuit, says the chairman of the Para Federation, is that the government had unjustly changed the designation of the land. In March 2024, the minister stated that the land must be returned to the state, while the Ministry of GBB has still not carried out the ruling.
“You can only withdraw if the ruling has been implemented. There is a concerted effort to force the government to reverse what is stated in the extract regarding the size of Berlin. The land has not been returned to the state’s possession; that is incorrect,” says Ommen.
Attorney Maureen Nibte says she was not aware that the land had returned to the state’s possession. “It was transferred to the state this year. I simply posted it on social media as an informative message because I saw that it was no longer under the plantation board’s management. I was shocked by the information I saw on the mortgage extract,” says Nibte.
Nibte discovered this information due to her interest in a piece of land in that area.
