PARAMARIBO – The Sipaliwini District Commissioner’s Office which is located in the Zwartenhovenbrugstraat is currently closed until further notice. The state employees on Wednesday closed the gates and went on strike to protest against the many burglaries and acts of vandalism that are committed at the DC’s Office. They explained that burglars have stolen curtains, office chairs, tables, air-conditioning units and even cameras. Glass shutters were smashed to pieces and the entire storage room is empty. “We no longer feel safe especially because of the fact that homeless people are staying on the premises.

We want the government to hire security guards so that we can feel safe again and so that we can also start working again. In the past there were security guards but they stopped showing up because they were not paid for working overtime. We do not have the tools to get the work done even if we wanted to work,” said the state employees…[+]