Official Name: | Nieuw-Koffiekamp |
Settlement Type: | Village |
Pushpin Map: | Suriname |
Pushpin Label Position: | bottom |
Pushpin Mapsize: | 300 |
Subdivision Type: | Country |
Subdivision Name: | Suriname |
Subdivision Name1: | Brokopondo District |
Subdivision Type2: | Resort |
Subdivision Name2: | Brownsweg |
Leader Title: | Captain |
Leader Name: | Hermanus Shalwijk (2019)[1] |
Population As Of: | 2017 |
Population Footnotes: | [2] |
Population Total: | 300 |
Population Density Km2: | auto |
Timezone: | AST |
Utc Offset: | -3 |
Coordinates: | 5.0753°N -55.2122°W |
Nieuw-Koffiekamp is a village in the resort of Brownsweg in the Brokopondo District of Suriname. It is a transmigration village built for the inhabitants of Koffiekamp which was flooded by the Brokopondo Reservoir after the construction of the Afobaka Dam.[3]
The transmigration village of Nieuw-Koffiekamp was founded in 1964, because the village of Koffiekamp was going to be flooded by the Brokopondo Reservoir. Koffiekamp was a federation of three settlements of the Ndyuka maroons: Maipa-ondo of the Misidjan lo (clan) founded in 1793, Baka Mbuju of the Njanfai lo, and Maria Hartmann founded Koffiekamp in 1851 as a mission of the Moravian Church.[4] The population was estimated at 500 inhabitants.[5]
Nieuw-Koffiekamp contains a school and a medical centre. It has access to the electricity grid.[6] The village is connected to the road network.[2] The number of inhabitants of the village varies greatly. The official figure in 2017 was 300, however the village council estimated the population at around 500.[2]
The economy is mainly based on gold mining. Most of the villagers used to work at the Roma Pit. In 1994 the concession was awarded to Iamgold.[7] In mid-2010, the company started to exploit the mine and removed the goldprospectors from the mine. The people were given a new area which contained significantly less gold.[8] After protests, a contract was signed with Iamgold in 2017 which permitted the villagers to remain in the Roma Pit.[9] [7]