
PARAMARIBO – The bus owners who render their services to the National Transportation Company (NVB) recently criticized President Jennifer Simons.

Cotino Finisie, chairman of the Organization of Bus and Boat Owners in Suriname (OBBS), explained that the president did not keep her promise aimed at making sure that the bus and boat owners would receive all of the money for services rendered in the second quarter. “To their disappointment they only received money for services rendered for one month. This means that they still have to be paid for two months. If we do not get the money for the remaining months before November 25th, we will be forced to take appropriate steps,” said Finisie who added that the union wants full payment at the start of December. The union chairman was reluctant to reveal what kind of steps the union would take. “At this moment I can’t reveal our strategy but we will not longer waste our time with parking our buses in front of the Office of the President. It does not yield results,” said the union chairman who added that the delay in payments create huge financial problems for the union members. “If this keeps up, we will not have any money to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Suriname’s Independence Day and maybe we also will not have any money for Christmas and the turn of the year. I can’t believe that the government has money to celebrate Independence Day but no money to pay the people who keep the country up and running every day,” said Finisie.

