Suriname president denies bailing out Amsterdam festival

Thursday 16 August 2012

Suriname president Desi Bouterse has denied giving €50,000 to bail out a financially troubled festival in Amsterdam.

On Wednesday, Dutch media reported Bouterse had confirmed the offer to help the Kwakoe festival in Amsterdam's Zuidoost district.

However, this is not the case, ANP quoted Bouterse as saying. Instead, Suriname has agreed to the festival organisers' request for mediation to help its financial problems.

‘Some people from the Kwakoe festival asked if they could use the Surinamese cabinet’s name to try to attract sponsors,’ he is quoted as saying. ‘We said yes and that may have made it possible to bring people together, so I don’t understand the commotion.’

Celebration

The Kwakoe festival began as a football tournament but has now grown into a celebration of Surinamese and other cultures. On Tuesday, it was on the verge of closing down when one of the main suppliers threatened to pull out, claiming it is owed €150,000.

The festival did not go ahead last year because it could not raise enough money.

Local politicians took to microblogging service Twitter to condemn the alleged gift by Bouterse, who had a role in killing 15 political opponents in December 1982.

Bouterse has also been sentenced to jail for drugs smuggling in the Netherlands but avoided jail because Suriname does not extradite its own citizens.

© DutchNews.nl