Despite the fact that the Surinamese government has not yet received an official request to relocate, the Santokhi-Brunswijk cabinet has chosen, following extensive deliberation, to carry out a test initiative by allowing 50 Mennonite families to live in our nation for a limited amount of time. This choice was made in light of boosting agricultural output. This was stated by the president yesterday in front of the National Assembly, Chandrikapersad Santokhi. Santokhi stated unequivocally that no one has made an official invitation to attend. There aren’t any applications for or sales of land to this organization, either.
The president claims that a local businessperson/investor asked the minister of Bibis to bring a group of Mennonites to use them in the agricultural industry. We want to examine issues in a broad perspective rather than in isolation. We want to identify the concerns, talk about them, and correctly address them. The government council meeting decided to run a pilot after deliberating for a while. This is solely a result of policy to boost agricultural output. According to the president, this project has been successfully carried out in Belize and imports are being replaced in the agricultural sector.
According to the president, it has been decided not to make or sell land to this group. “The persons will be subject to the normal procedures of the Aliens Act. They are tested on the aspect of safety. They are not allowed to touch tribal communities, including land under the jurisdiction of land rights. A cluster team of ministers will be appointed to monitor and guide the matter further. If the pilot continues, Surinamese companies must be used as local content.”
