WRITTEN QUESTION No. 153/98 by Leonie van BLADEL to the Commission. Question marks over the way EU aid to Surinam is spent
Date: 1998-02-02
Institutions: European Parliament, VAN BLADEL
Subjects: EU financing, European Development Fund, Surinam, administrative check, bankruptcy, frontier region, harbour installation, road building, road network

C 223/128

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

17. 7. 98

(98/C 223/164)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0153/98

by Leonie van Bladel (UPE) to the Commission

(2 February 1998)

Subject: Question marks over the way EU aid to Surinam is spent

1.
Is it true that construction work on the east-west link in Surinam (from Albina on the eastern border to
Nieuw Nickerie on the western border), estimated by the European Union as costing in the region of 50 million
guilders, has come to a standstill?

Can the Commission explain how this money is now apparently used up, although the construction of the

2.
road can in no way be described as complete?

3. What checks has the Commission carried out on the way in which the money intended for the building of
the  Surinam  east-west  link  has  been  spent,  and  in  which  publications  and  vis-a‘-vis  what  body  has  the
Commission given account of itself?

4. What measures has the Commission taken to prevent the money earmarked for the building of the east-west
link from being lost in the event of the bankruptcy of the contractor, and how is it possible that this money has
(cid:145)inexplicably(cid:146) disappeared?

5.
Has the Commission taken steps in the meantime to ensure that the money made available by the European
Union for the building of the container terminal in Paramaribo does not disappear in the same (cid:145)inexplicable(cid:146) way,
and that the container terminal is indeed built?

Answer given by Mr Pinheiro on behalf of the Commission

(11 March 1998)

1.
The  project  mentioned  by  the  Honourable  Member  was  approved  by  the  Commission  on  20  December
1994 for the purpose of rehabilitating parts of the 376 kilometre long coastal road. The works have been split into
two  lots,  one  concerning  the  road  and  bridges  between  Meerzorg  and  Albina  (lot  1),  the  other  between
Paramaribo and Nickerie (lot 2). Whereas the works of lot 2 are practically finished, those of lot 1 have been the
subject of major problems, which were the reason for the Commission to suspend financing of the works as from
1 August 1997. As a result of that, the Suriname administration suspended the works.

2. and 4.
As the Commission has suspended financing, the money earmarked for the works concerned and not
used  for  the  works  executed  up  to  now,  remains  frozen  until  further  decisions  will  have  been  taken  and  has
therefore not disappeared.

3.
The checks carried out are the usual checks in following the implementation of projects and programmes
financed by the European development fund (EDF) namely technical and financial reporting and control by the
consultant supervising the works, and the checking and verification of the progress of the works and the approval
of payment orders concerning invoices for works executed, through the Commission(cid:146)s delegation on the spot and
by the Commission in Brussels.

The implementation of the proposed rehabilitation of the port of Paramaribo, currently under preparation

5.
for possible EDF funding, will be subject to the usual rules and procedures.

(98/C 223/165)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0155/98

by Dagmar Roth-Behrendt (PSE) to the Commission

(2 February 1998)

Subject: EU resources: Information on the amount of EU aid paid to Berlin in 1997

How much Community aid was paid to Berlin in 1997, as part of which projects and from which funds?

1.  From the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF)?

2.  From  the  European  Agricultural  Guidance  and  Guarantee  Fund  (EAGGF),  Guidance  and  Guarantee

Sections?