Jul 06, 2026 Editorial, News

(Kaieteur News) – It is not that Suriname scrapped the joint Corentyne bridge project. It is how Suriname did it. Standing courtesy required any scrapping of the proposed bridge to be done quietly and thoughtfully. The Dutch leader reaching out to the Guyanese leader and sharing the unexpected news, that abrupt final decision in Paramaribo. Suriname’s President Jennifer Geerlings-Simon apparently did not think so. Because one of her ministers was in too much of a hurry to announce the bridge scrapping in their National Assembly. It was not merely sudden, it was shocking.

It is obvious that Guyana’s President Irfaan Ali was caught unaware. Blindsided from the Suriname side of the Corentyne Bridge now to be no more. No more partnering with, and participating by, Guyana. By itself, that development has all the criteria of a hammer out of nowhere, something that does not happen in these days of oil and Guyana. Few are the countries, and fewer the national leaders, who are not beating a path to tie up some business deal with Guyana. What could have prompted the thinkers and leaders in the Suriname Government to take a different route? Is it a sign of more difficulties between Guyana and its eastern neighbour? For the fact is that even Venezuela, notwithstanding its massive (baseless and arbitrary) claim on Guyana’s lands and riches, still wants to engage Guyana and arrange some sort of dealings with it.