Diana Pokie

Political background

In the news

• Thursday, 5 November 2026 Pokie promises to restore wrongly stopped benefits for children
  Summary

  • ABC reports that benefits for some children with disabilities in the interior were stopped after their parents entered government employment.
  • BEP parliamentary leader Ronny Asabina challenged the decision.
  • Social Affairs Minister Diana Pokie attributed errors to manual administration and said she would travel to the interior the following week to arrange payments.
  • The article does not establish how many children were affected or that payments have resumed.
  • De West dates Pokie’s parliamentary response to Tuesday 3 November and reports that the government is preparing to outsource interior benefit registration and re-registration.
  • She said lists would be published and a Brokopondo visit the following week would address payment problems.
• Friday, 23 October 2026 Bigi Poika leaders press for services and presidential review of Monikarta dispute
  Summary

  • Bigi Poika leaders previously gave the government two weeks to address poor access and basic-service failures, warning of a possible road blockade.
  • In later SUN reports, residents and traditional leaders repeated complaints about unreliable solar electricity and sought presidential attention to the Monikarta dispute involving minister Diana Pokie.
  • Their electricity accounts differ: earlier reporting describes supply from 18:00 to midnight, while the 31 October article says 06:00–12:00.
  • The reports establish residents’ complaints and requests, without an engineering finding, legal determination or confirmed repair.
• Saturday, 3 October 2026 Suriname’s Social Affairs Ministry says it aims to clear outstanding interior benefit payments this year
  Summary

  • Social Affairs Minister Diana Pokie said she wants to clear as much of the interior's 2024–2025 social-payment arrears as possible this year.
  • Suriname Herald reports that additional Finance Ministry funds are needed, including for travel.
  • Pokie also described checks of an outdated beneficiary register and a planned shift towards bank transfers.
  • The article does not establish the amount outstanding, release of the additional funding or completion of the payment-system change.
• Thursday, 10 September 2026 Social Affairs Ministry reports cleanup of a register that held nearly 189,000 people
  Summary

  • ABC reports that Social Affairs Minister Diana Pokie was reviewing and cleaning the social-benefits register against eligibility criteria.
  • She said it had contained almost 189,000 people a few months earlier and continued to receive new applications.
  • Her comments concern registration and administrative checks; the article does not establish the number receiving payments, how many entries were removed or the resulting fiscal savings.
• Wednesday, 26 August 2026 SoZaVo says it is preparing digital social payments and plans to clear arrears
  Summary

  • Social Affairs Minister Diana Pokie said preparations with Surinaamse Postspaarbank were advanced for digital social-benefit payments.
  • She linked the shift to reducing costly cash distribution in the interior and clearing arrears, but said progress depended on Finance Ministry resources.
  • Her target was to remove arrears sometime in 2027.
  • A new contract would move Monikarta distribution to the bank; applications for benefits still used the specified ministry offices.
  • The report describes preparations and targets, not completion of the payment transition.

Social Affairs & Housing

• Social-protection policy
• Social assistance and beneficiary programmes
• General and category-based social care
• Public housing policy
• Housing support and programme delivery