SURINAME-Air traffic controllers back on the job.

PARAMARIBO, Suriname, CMC -President Jennifer Greelings-Simons is due to meet with officials of the Suriname Air Traffic Controllers Association (SATCA) on Monday, following last weekend’s industrial dispute that led to flights being diverted to neighboring Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries.

On Saturday, a KLM flight from Amsterdam was diverted to Trinidad and Tobago. In contrast, regional flights operated by the state-owned Surinam Airways and Fly All Ways, among others, were affected when the control tower was unmanned for several hours. An air ambulance flight en route from Bogotá to pick up a patient for medical treatment abroad was also unable to land and diverted to Guyana.

While the workers have returned to their jobs following Greelings-Simons intervention, SATCA said that the disruptions are the result of long-standing problems within air traffic control.

In January, SATCA said its members would no longer be performing substitute duties, and following an emergency meeting with the Head of State, she promised to improve the situation.

A training program for new air traffic controllers has since started. However, according to SATCA, other agreements have not been met or have been met only partially.

The union said there is “skewed growth” within the operational services of the aviation service and is demanding a concrete proposal to correct what it describes as this inequality.

President Greelings-Simons will meet with the union on Monday during the weekly Cabinet meeting to discuss the situation that has arisen and to work on a structural solution.

In its letter, SATCA requested that the Negotiation Body and, if necessary, representatives of the Ministry of Finance and Planning be involved in the meeting.

SATCA is reported to have disputed a statement by Transport, Communication, and Tourism Minister, Raymond Landveld, who said last Wednesday that the government had taken all agreed steps.

The union said that it no longer has confidence in Landveld, who it said had left the air traffic controllers’ situation to the negotiating committee.

It said that the last contact between the committee and the SATCA dates back to February 26 and that the committee did not offer an adequate solution; the situation persisted without a solution in sight.