PARAMARIBO – Just like his Guyanese counterpart, Irfaan Ali, President Chandrikapersad Santokhi has also promised the Surinamese people that they will also profit from the income that will be generated by the offshore oil sector.

President Ali promised each citizen a once only financial injection of $500 while  Santokhi has promised each citizen a share in the oil royalties. The Surinamese head of state made this promise when he gave a speech on the 49th anniversary of Suriname’s Independence Day on November 25th. He wants to give each citizen a share of $750 at an interest rate of 7% in the future oil royalties. According to President Santokhi, this will be possible because of the positive deal with

Total Energies. The head of state explained that his administration has created a solid economic foundation, a healthy financial structure, economic recovery and that it has also restructured the national and international debts despite having to work under difficult circumstances for the past four years.  “We have given back as much as possible to the people in the form of salary hikes, tax cuts and social packages despite the restrictions that were mentioned,” said Santokhi who added that much more was done for the people. He mentioned funds to finance housing programs for the low and the middle income class, cheap prices for basic goods, cheap credit funds and the recovery of the infrastructure.

COLORADO  –  Much of the eastern US could experience a wave of bad weather as travellers hit the roads and airports for the Thanksgiving holiday. The National Weather Service (NWS) has forecast “a significant arctic outbreak” in the northern Plains, during what have historically been the busiest travel days of the year in the US. Meanwhile, heavy snow and rain are forecast over the Colorado Rockies on Wednesday – part of a weather system that will intensify and move eastward later on Thanksgiving Day. More than 10in (25cm) of snow could fall in some areas. Temperatures are also expected to drop to bitter lows across many areas.

The arctic blast could send temperatures as low as -30F to -40F (-34C to -40C) in the northern Plains and Upper Midwest, said BBC Weather forecaster Matt Taylor. The storm is expected to advance into the Midwest area, where it will also bring with it “lake-effect” snow and severe thunderstorms. Places that could see a large dump of snow include the interior of New England and the Appalachians. In the Midwest and Great Lakes region, there is a possibility of snow showers that could bring 4-8in of snow over the northern coastline of Michigan, according to the NWS. The severe conditions come at a hectic time for travel. The US Transportation Security Administration (TSA) says passenger volumes during this year’s Thanksgiving have already reached record highs. The busiest days were expected to be Tuesday and Wednesday, before Thanksgiving, as well as the Sunday after the holiday. The TSA expects to screen nearly nine million people at airports during those three days.

Meanwhile, a record number of nearly 72 million Americans are expected to travel at least 50 miles (80km) by car over the week, according to insurance company AAA. The anticipated increase is due to petrol prices that are lower than they were during the Thanksgiving holiday last year. Airports have seen minimal disruptions so far, though travel could be disrupted in the coming days as the worst of the weather hits. The I-90 highway between Cleveland and Buffalo and the I-81 north of Syracuse may see some travel disruptions, as snowfall is expected to mount in places south and east of the Great Lakes. The Thanksgiving rain and snow over the eastern US come after a winter storm in California, on the west coast. This brought heavy snow for higher elevations earlier this week, as well as wind gusts as strong as 50 mph (81km/h). Central California was also hit by another “atmospheric river” event on Tuesday after experiencing a similar phenomenon last week. (BBC)

Photo: BBC Weather Presenter Matt Taylor with US forecast for Thanksgiving. (BBC)

PARAMARIBO – About  67 farmers who haven’t received the compensation which other colleagues did in fact get have decided to go to the police to press charges against the government. They explained that they urgently need their money to stay in business.

The rice farmers had organized a rally to compel the government to address their problems and to get the compensation that was promised to them. As a result of this rally the farmers were promised that the ones who had cultivated up to 50 hectares would receive SRD 3,500 per hectare. The farmers who had cultivated between 50 to 100 hectares would receive SRD 3,000 per hectare while those who had cultivated between 100 to 150 hectares would receive SRD 2,500. It was the president who had promised the farmers that they would be compensated for the losses that they suffered during the previous seasons.

Agriculture, Stockbreeding and Fisheries (LVV) Minister Parmanand Sewdien claimed that all of the farmers had received their compensation. But dozens of farmers claimed that the minister had been misinformed and that he was also sharing the wrong information. The farmers will press charges collectively because they did not receive any fertilizer. They complained that the president does not respond to their letters. One of the rice farmers was entitled to receive 36 bags of fertilizer but he only got a voucher for 11 bags. In the end he did not get a single bag of fertilizer. The rice farmers claim that the bags of fertilizer fell of the truck and never ended up where they were supposed to end up. “We can’t talk to the minister of Agriculture because he is corrupt. There is no transparency regarding the distribution of fertilizer. We want transparency. The minister pretends that he does not know that not all of the farmers received their money. The president indicated that all of the people who had mortgaged their jewels and who had huge debts at the banks would receive help. But nothing has been done. The president never let his actions speak louder than his words. Jewels were auctioned because the farmers could not make their payments,” said the farmers who claim that they were tricked by the president. They expressed disappointed because the president did not respond to any of the letters that they sent to him. “The president must keep his promises.”

GEORGETOWN – As ExxonMobil Guyana Limited (EMGL) continues to push production to new heights in the Stabroek Block, the company recently reported a ‘record September’ to its shareholders. During the Corporation’s third quarter Earnings Call, the company reported US$8.6B in profits. Notably, ExxonMobil highlighted that 4.6 million oil equivalent barrels per day (moebd) was produced- the highest since 2011. Key among its highlights to shareholders was the production capacity delivered by the three projects in Guyana. Exxon said it had a “Record September in Guyana with 660,000 barrels per day” produced. The oil giant lauded Guyana for supporting its strong earnings over the period. “Strong earnings growth (was) driven by record Guyana and Permian volumes, including $1.2 billion contribution from Pioneer,” the company outlined.

EMGL presently has three projects producing oil in Guyana. It should be noted that each of these developments have been pushed to produce above the limits outlined in project documents submitted to Guyanese regulators. The company has been able to increase capacity of the three Floating Production Storage and Offloading vessels (FPSOs) through a process called debottlenecking. Exxon previously explained that the company would assess the projects for bottlenecks to improve recovery of the resources. The company would then submit its findings to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Ministry of Natural Resources for consideration and approval. Following its independent assessment, the regulator would then issue its blessings for the optimization activities, allowing Exxon to increase production on the vessels. The Government of Guyana in its 2024 Mid-Year Report confirmed that all three projects underwent optimisation and topsides debottlenecking activities in the first half of the year.

Presently, Liza One and Liza Two are producing about 160,000 bpd and 250,000 barrels per day (bpd) respectively. The Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) each specifically outline 120,000 and 220,000 bpd, as the safe operating limit for Liza One and Two, respectively. Similarly, the third oil project- Payara- is also producing approximately 250,000 bpd even though the vessel’s nameplate capacity is 220,000 bpd. The company is however looking to further increase the daily rate of resource recovery at the Liza Two project. During a media conference last month, EMGL’s President, Alistair Routledge told reporters: “We are ongoing discussions review with various agencies including the EPA and with the Ministry of Natural Resource on whether to increase the production on the Unity FPSO above the 252,000.” Routledge said Exxon believes the Liza Unity can be increased to 270,000 bpd. (Kaieteur News)

Photo: Exxon Mobil Corporation CEO, Darren Woods. (Kaieteur News)

PARAMARIBO – Five suspects were arrested last Sunday. Investigators believe that these five men were behind a string of robberies. The Regional Support Team  Paramaribo (RBTP) took these suspects into police custody.

Two of the suspects have already confessed to having committed various crimes. The suspects were in possession of ski masks, masks, bags and tools such as crowbars when they were arrested by the officers of the special police unit. They were handed over to the detectives of Paramaribo and they are currently in jail awaiting trial. The police recently launched a special operation namely Operation Christmas Bread which is aimed at tackling crime.

“The police are closer than you think. Due to Operation Christmas Bread the number of police patrols have been beefed up. Police officers in plainclothes are often on patrol in the various neighbourhoods to maintain law and order,”  Police Commissioner Bryan Isaacs told Times of Suriname. The commissioner explained that the police patrol the neighbourhoods undetected so that people can feel safe.