on it after their property deeds have expired. As she handed out property deeds in the districts Nickerie and Coronie she explained that they could expire after 40 years because of the current laws. The head of state pointed out that the current laws offer little protection. “The experience that I gained while working as a legislator has taught me that a couple of crooks and villains who operated in the vicinity of the ministry were waiting for property deeds to expire”, said President Simons. The president emphasized that her administration is allocating land for sustainable housing and that “it would therefore be illogical for these documents to expire automatically after a while although there is a house on the land with people residing there”. She therefore urged parliament to amend the legislation so that such situations could be prevented. “It makes you want to cry because those people paid to build a house. And then somebody else comes along and takes it all away in a sly manner. We will no longer allow that to happen”, said President Simons who added that a validity period of 40 years is impracticable.