Today, started with dark grey clouds filling the skies of Paramaribo. Reflecting from the previous night, we were all energized after having a wonderful Indonesian dinner compliments of Mr. Ameerali and Dr. Persadie at Sarinah restaurant. In full business attire, we set out to attend our first meeting at the Ministry of Labour, Technological Development and the Environment. Our associate, Mrs Gayatrie Beharie, from the Suriname Business Centre also joined us.
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| Meeting with the Minster of Labour, Technological Development and the Environment |
As we walked to the office building, we were all awestruck by the magnificent beauty of the Colonial Dutch architecture. We were directed to their conference room where we awaited the Minister’s arrival. As we were introduced to the Honourable Minister Miskin, he took the time to walk around and shake the hand of every person present. We couldn’t help but be impressed by the humility he displayed and how comfortable and excited he was to talk to us. Joining him were Mr. Steven S. Relyveld, the Permanent Secretary (quite unlike the position of Permanent Secretary in Trinidad and Tobago, which is “permanent”), Ms. Claudette L. Hiwat, the Deputy Secretary and Ms. Sima Sultan, the Coordinator of Technology and Development. Minister Miskin immediately expressed his willingness to entertain our questions concerning labour in Suriname and encouraged us to be open. All parties were very helpful and gave us a lot of useful information that afforded us a comprehensive understanding of how the Ministry operates. There are also policies that are in the discussion phase that are expected to improve the effectiveness of the Ministry in Suriname.
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| IIEM Class with Minister Miskin |
Next on our stop was the Ministry of Education and Culture, which was merely a few minutes away from the Ministry of Labour. This was the shortest distance we travelled since we got to Suriname! At the Ministry of Education, we were shown to the meeting room where we were introduced to Mr. Sidoel Stanley, Acting Permanent Secretary, and Mr. Leonel Soetosengo, the Vice Permanent Secretary, who briefed us on the Education Ministry’s portfolio and drew comparisons to Trinidad and Tobago’s method of education. We again had a question and answer session where a better understanding of their affairs and the challenges faced were understood.
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| Mr Nicholas Singh making presentations at the Ministry of Education and Culture |
After this meeting we headed back to the hotel to change to casual attire to facilitate our meeting at the Stichting Behound Banonen Sector (SBBS) banana plantations. Additionally, we were short on time and as such Mr. Ameerali indicated that we would pick up some KFC and Popeye’s to eat on the way, as we were all very hungry after a packed morning and an expectedly long afternoon. After hurriedly getting ready and boarding the bus, the discomfort of the highly humid weather conditions was evident. We found some relief as we reminisced on the many fun experiences that we had in Suriname thus far. There was a detailed comparison of the flavors of this KFC and that back home in Trinidad. Their KFC was very different to ours as they used seemingly different flavors and the condiments were not what we traditionally use. We took approximately 45 minutes to get to the rural western district of Suriname known as Wanica. The area was comparable to the flats lands of south Trinidad with its large drains at the front of wooden houses and the many Hindu Temples and Mosques indicative of the people who reside in this district. We entered a gated region where the banana plantations exist.
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| SBBS' vast banana plantation |
Every single one of us was blown away by the expanse of land and the sheer number of trees at the plantation. Banana plants numbered in their millions and all swayed uniformly in the wind, each adorned with blue plastic bags which we later found out protect the fruit from damage and pests. We drove for what seemed like a mile to the administration building where we learnt about the methods of producing bananas as well as the limitations and challenges that exist. From there, we were driven to the processing facilities to observe quality checks, cleaning, and boxing of bananas.
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| Bananas being cleaned at the process station |
As a final part of our trip, we were shown the banana plantations and taught the many methods used in growing the bananas. Then, we were offered bananas and a beverage for which we were extremely grateful after our enjoyable day.
With respect to our four themes, these were our findings on our visits today:
Entrepreneurship
There is an increase in internal migration from the rural hinterlands to urban Paramaribo. Individuals tend to move to Paramaribo in search of jobs since the jobs available in the hinterlands are predominantly agricultural. These rural areas are heavily dependent on manual labour along with individuals with the right skill set to manage. This movement of labour away from the agricultural areas seems to correlate to the 8% unemployment rate. The Ministry of Labour recognizes this and as such employs willing labour from Haiti and Guyana in the short run. These are unskilled workers who are then trained in agriculture. In the long run, the Ministry is promoting entrepreneurship, that is, individuals setting up their own businesses and creating employment for themselves and other individuals in their rural communities. This has the effect of strengthening the communities and reducing internal migration to the urban centre. This addresses the quantity side of the labour shortage. On the quality side of labour, in the short run, the Ministry has been collaborating with other countries, such as Trinidad and Tobago, who have graduates in agriculture and agribusiness to come across and provide those technical competencies. Promoting the country to the CARICOM can open opportunities for partnerships or even full ownership such as the discussions to privatize (SBBS) banana plantations. In the long run, the Ministry of Education has realized that developing a culture of entrepreneurship is a long process and has begun changing it curriculum to foster creativity and open thinking which directly speaks to entrepreneurship.
Globalization
Shortage of labour, particularly in the agricultural and mineral sectors, has increased regional trade relations to Suriname. To satisfy the vacancies of the agricultural sector, Haitians and Guyanese were recruited for agricultural labour requirements while Chinese and Dutch in particular are utilized for top level management and specialized skill requirements particularly in the mining sector. In light of this challenge concerning skilled labour, Suriname’s education system is becoming more geared towards fulfilling local and global technical requirements.
The planned use of ICT to educate, as well as the integration of multiple languages as part of both the secondary and primary school curriculum, equips students with the tools required for them to enhance economic growth and trade relations with CARICOM and Latin America nations. Additionally, there is also a move to implement the CSEC system as a method of educational certification which would allow them to have an equivalent standard in CARICOM. While agriculture faces a serious labour shortage, the SBBS has capitalized on the preferential trade agreements entered into with Europe and CARICOM to export its bananas. This allows Suriname-produced bananas to have a competitive edge over its Central and South American competitors. Also, Suriname has other advantages to producing bananas such as flat topography, a minimal threat of hurricanes and fertile soil. The lack of players at both the supply of raw materials and marketing stages is a major challenge to its banana production and sale.
Sustainability
Time and again, we have seen that sustainable development is a governmental objective in Suriname. With this in mind, the Ministry of Labour aims to attain full employment and, indeed, has seen its unemployment rate drop 3% over the last two years. They achieved this by tackling the discrepancy between supply and demand of labour. While the size and diversity of the nation poses unique challenges, the Ministry of Labour is making strides towards producing skilled labour, providing employment avenues in their interior regions and standardize salaries. The Ministry of Education is consequently faced with the task of providing easily accessible education which meets the needs of the private sector. The Ministry understands that in order to meet these needs for the future, much change is required and as such they are undertaking a reform of their school system, updating and tailoring their curricula to meet varying student needs (urban vs rural education) and eliminating barriers to student motivation. In the agribusiness sector, sustainability also poses difficulties.
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| Tour of SBSS banana plantation |
Science, Technology and Innovation
The SBBS plantation was re-operationalised in 2002 as a result of the Surinamese Government’s Strategic Development Plan and is a valiant attempt at strengthening the agricultural sector and in fact is the nation’s largest employer. However, the banana industry is quite rigid and, as a result, requires chemically-intensive growing methods, which results in worker exposure to chemicals and unsustainable soil management. In addition, the demanding European market’s quality standards prevent automation, which would greatly improve the company’s efficiency and profitability.
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