Capital claws

1995/01/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Garraioak

The seventy-meter-wide road of Suriname equals a giant highway. It is the first open road in the dense jungle of this state and the right of circulation is in the hands of a foreign company, an Indonesian forestry company.

The MUSA company has its headquarters in Jakarta and is launching around 300 trees every day around the village of Apura, west of Suriname. They are transported by truck to the Corantin River and from there to the sea. This group has the right to exploit 150,000 hectares, but its intention is not limited to it.

If the Parliament approves the Government's proposal, MUSA will have ^{the right} to exploit 62,000 km2 of virgin rainforest, 40% of the extension of Suriname. SAAM is promising a billion dollar investment in forestry and timber industry.

As expected, the plan has sparked intense debate. Some have been favorable. Suriname once had the highest per capita income in South America and today the situation is quite harsh. Therefore, it is considered that it can be pushed back thanks to MUSA.

Opponents, of course, think that 40% of the state is not available to foreigners. They also add environmental problems. Two reasons are mentioned: on the one hand, the wild deforestation that is occurring in neighboring Guyana and, on the other, the traditional devastating forest system of Indonesia. The SAAM, of course, has dismissed such complaints and has announced the realization of selective forest exploitation. However, according to experts from the Environment Agency of Suriname, for the exploitation of forests to be profitable, intensive exploitation must be carried out, consisting of the total dumping of the forest.

On the other hand, there have also been reports of corruption.

Is this another case of negligence, corruption, of the authorities? It has all the look.