Onverdacht
Village in Para District, Suriname From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Onverdacht () is a village in the resort of Zuid in the Para District of Suriname. Between 1941 and 2009, it was a bauxite mining town.
Onverdacht | |
|---|---|
Village | |
 Bauxite mining at Onverdacht (1947) | |
  Onverdacht | |
| Coordinates: 5.612222°N 55.151111°W | |
| Country |  Suriname |
| District | Para District |
| Resort | Zuid |
| Time zone | UTC-3 (AST) |
Onverdacht started as a wood plantation in 1737.[1] In 1863, the slaves were emancipated, and the plantation closed. In 1874, the land reverted back to the Surinamese government.[2]
In 1939, bauxite was discovered at Onverdacht by the Dutch Billiton company (nowadays part of BHP).[3] In 1941, a concession was granted to start mining at Onverdacht.[4] A prefab housing estate was built near the village to accommodate the workers,[5] however Onverdacht remained relatively small due to its proximity to Paramaribo.[3] In 1947, a recreation centre opened.[6] In 1949, a school opened.[7] A library,[8] and a fire department opened as well.[9]
In 1993, Billiton signed a joint venture with Suralco (Alcoa), and in 2009 closed their operations in Suriname.[10] In 2018, the police station closed down.[11]
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