Sociologist Kirtie Algoe: preparing for the oil industry is a race against time
Social scientist Kirtie Algoe states that Suriname is insufficiently prepared for the societal consequences of the expected billions of US dollars in oil and gas revenues. She warns that preparation for the new industry increasingly resembles a race against time between ‘workhorses and show horses.’ Algoe is skeptical about oil and gas development because, according to her, various signals point to the risk of a ‘resource curse.’
“We can think, for example, of the warnings from the International Monetary Fund, the president’s statements regarding our readiness for the sector, rising land prices in certain areas, the status of the so-called savings fund, and the labor shortage.”
Challenges facing Suriname
Algoe states that, for her, the worst part is that the middle and lower classes could ultimately bear the brunt of this. After all, they are often the ones who ultimately pay for harsh decisions and non-transparent agreements made by a small elite. “Agriculture and tourism are certainly valuable sectors for development, albeit not new initiatives. We are systematically ignoring culture, nature, and the knowledge industry. We should be stimulating these to climb out of the slump,” she states.
Algoe further indicates that we are already struggling to acquire land, retain sufficient teachers and educational quality, and gain access to good healthcare. She says nothing yet about the self-evident backbone of a society—culture, knowledge, and sports. In short: the country is imploding. That is why, according to her, the foundation is currently too fragile to bear the weight of industry in the future. “On the contrary, it makes us more vulnerable to issues we have not yet resolved, including corruption.”
Three challenges
A smart budget, strong legislation, and various funds offer insufficient relief, because Suriname is grappling with three fundamental and historical challenges that are often ignored. “First, our pre-1975 socio-economic dependency structure still persists, even in 2026. Unfortunately, our historical awareness regarding this is low, except when a temporary financial interest is attached to it. The new industry can alter our small achievements as a nation, despite colonial traces. Consider the social structure and classes, our implicit codes of conduct in mutual interaction, language use, and power relations in the workplace.
Secondly, discontinuity within institutions is the rule rather than the exception here,” Algoe explains.
“Our political culture is characterized by selective enmities and camaraderie between people who simultaneously have to govern and shape a society. That is often called pragmatism, while our comments are then dismissed as theoretical.
Third, we have a very low implementation rate of plans. As a society, we are not infrequently accused of talking a lot but doing little. Look, for example, at the realization of only about ten percent of the more than five hundred projects from the ‘Financial Annual Plan 2026’. That is incredibly low.” This figure illustrates a larger, complex problem: a culture of distrust, a continuous institutional erosion whereby we are developing unwanted autoimmune diseases for the nation. Our own plans are falling apart from within.”
“Workhorses versus show horses in the oil race”
Algoe believes that qualities such as perseverance, optimism, creativity, craftsmanship, and the protection of ideals seem increasingly difficult to implement within the current context. She calls the preparation for oil and gas developments a “race against the clock between workhorses and show horses,” in which the latter group appears larger than the former.
“The groups that have to execute and drive things in practice often cut corners.”
She recounts a recent consultation round involving an international company regarding an upcoming project and calls it shameful that government representatives participated poorly. “They left immediately after the first round of presentations, with a snack in hand. That might be a coincidence. But their almost massive passivity during the discussion round was not. It was clear that many had an insufficient grasp of the subject matter.” According to her, the questions the head of the government delegation asked the international speakers and their local representatives were very basic. “If a hearing proceeds like this, how can you be a critical community that is supposed to help develop a new industry? The people who do understand the subject matter and are genuinely committed are almost literally running a race against time.”
Nevertheless, Algoe also sees positive developments. She points to the regular critical observations regarding the oil-driven plans.
“At various levels, emphasis is placed on the importance of level-headedness and solidarity. For the time being, that seems like a good sign to me, certainly given the great uncertainty on the world stage. An atmosphere of the ‘law of the strongest’ is increasingly prevailing. Energy resources are a major power factor, something we can offer, but otherwise possess relatively few strategic assets. Who are our allies? How do we strengthen our negotiating position regarding our natural resources? From my ‘non-oil brain’, I try to keep the socio-societal perspective central.
Short-term goals
Algoe believes that Suriname must tackle two issues in the short term. First: corruption and forging a workable policy formula with driven and disciplined leaders and implementers.
“So, not a list of wishes or needs, but a well-thought-out policy based on greater cohesion between policy areas, grounded in insight into local culture and knowledge of proven successes, and developed in collaboration with a small number of regional and international partners. Second: the implementation of a strategy in which our own capital, in the broadest sense of the word, is given priority. Culture is our backbone; we must develop it further. Biodiversity is a gift to us; we must utilize it, with knowledge and research as the driving force. A prerequisite for this is good governance, which prevents blatant theft or ‘legal’ disproportionate enrichment.” Many resources, such as gas and oil, are temporary. They must therefore not become the focus, Algoe concludes.
“The leverage function of revenues from this sector for other developing regions must therefore be closely monitored. Crisis teaches us focused thinking, reflection, and then recreation. A reset for sound foundations, unless we throw in the towel.