This means that a huge grant of about 50 to 100 million American dollars for the financing of a complete transformation of the Riverside Boulevard of Paramaribo into a vibrant boulevard for art and culture will be lost forever.

“It was a historic opportunity,” said Eduard Hogenboom, initiator of the project, who claimed that this project was deliberately put on ice by members of the VHP who were part of the Santokhi administration. In 2021 MONAC presented an ambitious plan that was aimed at turning the section from the Kromme Elleboog to the Jodenbreestraat into an iconic boulevard with a modern theater, an art museum, a slavery museum, an amphitheater and even a replica of Leusden which was a slave ship. MONAC would not only finance the entire construction project but it would also finance the first year of exploitation of these business ventures. The mega project would create jobs, boost tourism and national pride. The Santokhi administration gave the green light for the project in 2021 and a cluster team of 6 ministries that would be led by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, International Business and International Cooperation (Bibis) would guide the project.

MONAC drew up a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) as a starting point for the research that would be financed entirely by MONAC but this project quickly got caught in a web of delays and opposition. The Foreign Affairs Ministry failed to organize a cluster meeting and even pushed aside the dossier to the Ministry of Public Works (OW). But Public Works Minister Riad Nurmohamed started going in circles with his own procedures and after several months he unexpectedly presented his own MoU which MONAC claimed reflected thoughts of corruption. MONAC refused but kept opting for dialogue. At the end of 2023 the Public Works Ministry finally approved MONAC’s revised MoU but it was up to the Finance Ministry to take the next step. Finance and Planning Minister Stanley Raghoebarsing cancelled appointments with MONAC and claimed that he had to wait for internal advice. At the start of 2025 he explained that he needed funds from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) before he could put together a work group. But MONAC had explicitly offered to cover all of the costs for studies aimed at preparing the project. MONAC was therefore puzzled by the fact that the government wanted to opt for loans instead of accepting private grants. Many letters were sent to the minister but he did not respond. President Santokhi who initially supported the project also opted to drop it when it got caught in a web of political bureaucracy. “The Finance and Planning Ministry did not give any priority to the project,” said MONAC.

Now that MONAC has pulled the plug, Suriname has missed a golden opportunity to breathe new life into the inner city while putting cultural heritage on the map. MONAC made it clear that its project was deliberately sabotaged by people from the VHP. “This is a crime against the nation,” said the foundation which added that such misconduct is not without its consequences. No jobs, no tourism, no investment in national pride. MONAC sees this as a perfect example of a private initiative that went belly up in an administrative climate where transparency is nothing more than a fancy word. “Suriname deserves better,” said MONAC. “The future will remember this as a missed opportunity of historic proportions. Sadly one of many missed opportunities.”