SITUATION ANALYSIS OF THE SMALL-SCALE GOLD ... - WWF

Box 1: The administrative presence in the interior
The economy of Suriname was based on plantation agriculture between the 17 th and 19 th
centuries. The plantations were confined to the coastal area, as well as the administration
of the colony. The colonial history of the interior is primarily the history of the
Indigenous and Maroon (escaped slave communities) peoples. They were the only
peoples who had established permanent settlements in the interior. During the 18 th and
19 th century, missionaries ventured into the Indigenous and Maroon communities of the
interior, and after the peace treaties of 1760, 1762 and 1767 the administration stationed a
handful of colonial emissaries (“posthouders”) in Maroon settlement areas. After the
1920s this presence was discontinued.
During the first gold boom (1875-1908), a 180 kilometer railroad was built to link the
gold mining areas in the watersheds of the Saramacca and Suriname rivers to Paramaribo.
This logistic incursion, however, was not accompanied by a permanent extension of the
coastal administration into the interior of the country in the form of civil registration
offices, schools, public health centers, and so forth. Control posts for the gold mining
sector were established at strategic locations, but these faded out of existence after gold
production had declined to insignificant quantities in the 1960s and 1970s.
In the 20 th century the bauxite industry became the mainstay of the country‟s economy.
The Suriname Bauxite Company, a subsidiary of Alcoa, did venture into more remote
coastal locations, such as the Cottica River region. The company town Moengo was built,
with modern infrastructure and services. The government administration followed suit,
and after the East-West highway was built in the early 1960s the government presence
increased steadily. The government has now taken over almost all the infrastructure.
When the hydro-electric dam was built in the early 1960s the road network was extended
to the dam site at Afobakka, about 100 kilometers from Paramaribo. Up until then the
road net extended only 47 kilometers south, to the international airport at Zanderij. At
that time the district of Brokopondo was created, and a districts commissioner‟s office
was established at the town of Brokopondo along the Suriname river. This is the most
southern district commissioner‟s office in Suriname, but it is no more than 100 kilometers
from Paramaribo and still 300 kilometers from the southern border of the country.
In 1985 a new division of districts was introduced. The new Sipaliwini district covered
most of the area of the interior and 80% of the land mass of the country. The districts of
Brokopondo and parts of Para and Marowijne are also considered „interior‟ districts. In
the early 1980s the main road artery was extended to Pokigron, 180 kilometers from
Paramaribo. This distance, however, is less than half-way to the southern border of
Suriname.
Efforts by the government to move the administration further southwards into the interior
received a major set-back during the interior war (1986-1992). During the conflict most
of the interior was isolated from Paramaribo. Almost all the government infrastructure in
the interior was destroyed or looted. After the Accord for National Reconciliation and
Development in August of 1992, it took a tremendous effort to repair the existing
infrastructure and re-establish a government presence in the interior. The interior is still
recovering from the destruction brought on by the war
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