The current administration is prepared to negotiate with multinational Alcoa to build an aluminium smelter in Suriname, if plans to construct a smelter in Trinidad & Tobago are cancelled, a government minister here disclosed.

Construction of the multi-million dollar facility in the Chatham/Cap-de-Ville area is being strongly opposed by local communities and environmental organisations in Trinidad.

"We're not ruling out the possibility for a lobby campaign for the smelter," said Gregory Rusland, Suriname's energy minister in an invited comment. He added that, with or without a smelter in Trinidad, the Suriname government will negotiate for establishment of an aluminium smelter in the country since, according to the minister, the country will have a significantly larger income with the production of aluminium instead of just bauxite or alumina.

Due to increased production costs, Alcoa's subsidiary in Suriname, Suralco, terminated aluminium production in the country several years ago.

Minister Rusland stressed that environmental concerns should not be an issue as long as these matters are addressed and taken into account seriously when such plans are being tabled. Before a decision to build any facility, which has significant effects on the environment and local communities, an environmental and social impact study will be done, Rusland said.

The minister further stated that, if Suriname is pushing for greater economic development, the country has to pay a price and that some of that price would be to give up part of its environment and bio-diversity. However any industrial activity should be in such a fashion that it would put as little stress as possible on the environment.

The resistance in Trinidad to the aluminium smelter could be a second chance for Suriname to have such facilities. Some four years ago Alcoa's top official Alan Belda visited Suriname and offered the Venetiaan administration a US$3 billion integrated aluminium facility including a smelter. However the government rejected the offer. "We could still benefit from that missed opportunity," said the energy minister.

Currently, preparations are well underway to start negotiations with Alcoa/Suralco and BHP-Billiton for a bauxite mining contract for the lucrative deposits in the Bakhuys Mountains in the western part of Suriname. The minister warned, however, that although the exploration in these areas were executed by the two companies, it is not self-evident that these companies will eventually win the contract.

Rusland reiterated that Suriname should earn as much as possible from its natural resources and therefore will choose the best option or interested party which will deliver as such. The minister stated, however, that a relation of over 90 years with Alcoa and BHP-Billiton "is not something that you brush aside easily."

"We have a lot of experience with these companies and, with a new partner of whom you know nothing, of the future is uncertain," said Rusland.

Next week, President Venetiaan will swear in a team of experts that will negotiate with the multinationals.

Meanwhile, the internationally renowned research institute, TNO Delft in the Netherlands, has won a contract to analyse the data the multinationals have collected during the explorations in the Bakhuys Mountains.

Several members of Parliament and financial advisers to the government have suggested that the government open an international bidding round for the bauxite deposits in the Bakhuys Mountains.