October 16, 1998
GOVERNMENT ORDERED EVACUATION OF THE PRESIDENT OF
JUSTICE'S ROOM
Police and soldiers were ordered by the Government to renew the locks on the doors of the rooms
to the President of Justice's office and to clear the room of all the belongings of the acting
President of the Court John von Niessewand, so that the Government-chosen President of Justice,
Mr Alfred Veldema, be given the chance to furnish and decorate this office to his taste. The room
was cleared by convicts under the watchful eye of the C.I.D. Judge von Niessewand, who was
presiding at a trial at the time, had to postpone the case he was hearing after receiving a message
and quickly left the Court-room.This latest action of the Government has been disapproved of by
both Lawyers and Judges alike. Members of the Judiciary had earlier informed President
Wijdenbosch of their disapproval of the manner in which Veldema was appointed President of the
Court and advised him to revoke the appointment and follow normal legal procedures by first
obtaining the advice of the Court. A second letter was sent last week to the President in which the
members again emphasized their stand point. The Order of Legal Counsellors are reported to be
shocked at the latest development in this matter that is now in its third month, and fully
disapprove of the actions taken by the Government, stating that this is not the way to settle the
problem that according to them is the result of the Governments negligence to seek a proper
solution for this problem. They accused the Government for letting the matter slide. The Order is
concerned about this critical situation. Even though the acting Judge's belongings were taken from
the room he is still the Acting President of the Court and is supported by the total Judiciary. The
question arises as to how Mr Veldema will carry out his job since all the Judges are behind Von
Niessewand. A meeting that was supposed to be scheduled for today with the Lawyers and
Judges had to be postponed because of the deaths of Ronald van Ritter and Frits Mitrasingh. Ruth
Wijdenbosch and Moestafa Nurmohamed, both members of the commission of Justice have
critized the latest action of the Government, the latter stating that the Government is not open for
dialogue but converts to force when it wants to get its own way and sees this as a sign on the wall
that the constitution could be in danger if that is not already the case.
Even though the EBS is assuring the people of lower cost of energy with the new SPGC deal, two
members of the Chamber of Commerce, who have been studying this are of the opinion that- the
costs will remain the same. EBS announced that the agreed energy prices with SPGC will be
lower than the prices of EBS. According to calculations made by Ameerali and Bissumbhar the
price calculations they used were not the same as those used by the EBS. The total salary budget
is alarmingly high because of the fact that they have 30 percent too many workers who despite the
fact that they are overstaffed have still not been able to produce the proper figures for the past
years.According to the two members the EBS were never seriously concerned about cost
control,the opinion of which can be drawn from the fact that the EBS does not have the detailed
information of the exact distribution and transformation costs.
The rice farmers are upset with the price of SF3.500 for a bale of padi. Against the present rate of
the U$D they will receive 50 percent less to cover their costs.Broken combines and a shortage of
reaping machines will result in most of the padi not being reaped this season. According to
Dayanand Dwarka secretary of the FAL this only makes the position of the rice farmer more
difficult. Dwarka says that about then thousend ha of padi will not be reaped, which will result in
the farmers getting less money. The government, however, has still not responded to the cries of
the farmers. Dwarka says that when the government does not respond by friday 24:00 the actions
will be resumed.
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