Decision 40 COM 7B.9

Historic Inner City of Paramaribo (Suriname) (C 940rev)

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC/16/40.COM/7B,
2. Recalling Decision 38 COM 7B.47, adopted at its 38th session (Doha, 2014),
3. Commends the State Party for the adoption of the Paramaribo World Heritage Management Plan 2011-2015 and the Emergency Action Plan 2014;
4. Urges the State Party to take the necessary measures for their implementation, also taking into account the recommendations of the 2013 ICOMOS Advisory mission, with particular attention to the strengthening of the Management Authority and the provision of funding for its operation as well as for urgently needed conservation and restoration works at government-owned monumental buildings;
5. Expresses its very serious concern about the potential real-estate development at the Waterfront and strongly urges the State Party to withdraw the license granted to a private company and to take the necessary measures for the proper conservation of the Waterfront area and proceed with the proposed extension of the World Heritage property to include a strip of the river of at least 50 meters;
6. Invites the State Party to submit the above mentioned extension as a minor boundary modification according to paragraphs 163-165 of the Operational Guidelines, for examination by the World Heritage Committee;
7. Regrets that the technical review of the “Monument for Victims” at the Waterfront could not be completed by the Advisory Bodies due to the incomplete documentation provided by the State Party and requests the State Party to urgently provide information about the construction of this monument;
8. Welcomes the initiative of the State Party to develop a major Urban Rehabilitation Programme with the support of the Inter-American Development Bank in which the Management Authority of the property should be intimately involved and also invites the State Party to seek the advice of the World Heritage Centre and the Advisory Bodies in its further design and implementation;
9. Also requests the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 December 2017, an updated report on the state of conservation of the property and the implementation of the above, for examination by the World Heritage Committee at its 42nd session in 2018.