Decision 42 COM 7B.42

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

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC/18/42.COM/7B,
2. Recalling Decision 40 COM 7B.9, adopted at its 40th session (Istanbul/UNESCO, 2016),
3. Welcomes the approval and implementation of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB)-funded Paramaribo Urban Rehabilitation Programme (PURP) that addresses key issues of the management and conservation of the property, and requests the State Party to provide a copy of the programme documentation and periodic progress reports on its implementation, including information on the community’s participation, to the World Heritage Centre for review by the Advisory Bodies;
4. Urges the State Party again to withdraw the licence to the private company for the development project at the Waterfront, and to urgently proceed with the expansion of the property’s boundaries to include a 50 metre strip of the river, and with the extension of the buffer zones as recommended in earlier Committee decisions by means of a formal Minor Boundary Modification in accordance with Paragraph 164 of the Operational Guidelines;
5. Recommends that the State Party pay particular attention to the development of the whole Waterfront which is a key attribute of the property and to submit the Strategic Plan for the Waterfront, once it becomes available, to the World Heritage Centre for review by the Advisory Bodies;
6. Regretting that four historic buildings were either destroyed by fire or illegally demolished by their owners in 2017, also requests the State Party to provide further information on the most recent incidents in regard to their relevance for the property’s Outstanding Universal Value (OUV);
7. Further requests the State Party to give high priority to fire prevention and awareness raising among private owners of historic buildings in the property and its buffer zone;
8. Commends the initiative of the State Party to re-build the former National Assembly buildings and requests furthermore the State Party to take into account the recommendations made by the ICOMOS technical review, and to engage in further consultations with ICOMOS on the elaboration of updated architectural designs;
9. Finally requests the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 December 2019, 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 44th session in 2020.