The controversial president of the former Dutch colony of Suriname has offered €50,000 to bail out a Dutch summer festival, which is on the verge of bankruptcy, according to media reports.

Nos television says a spokesman for Desi Bouterese has confirmed the offer to help the Kwakoe festival in Amsterdam’s Zuidoost district to local media.
‘The head of state was quick to agree to the proposal,’ the spokesman reportedly told local paper De Ware Tijd. ‘The diaspora has supported us in difficult times and now the president will do something for the diaspora.’
The festival organisers have not confirmed receipt of the gift, Elsevier magazine reported.
Celebration
The Kwakoe festival began as a football tournament but has now grown into a celebration of Surinamese and other cultures. On Tuesday, it was on the verge of closing down when one of the main suppliers threatened to pull out, claiming it is owed €150,000.
The festival did not go ahead last year because it could not raise enough money.
Local politicians took to microblogging service Twitter to condemn the gift by Bouterse, who had a role in killing 15 political opponents in December 1982.
Bouterse has also been sentenced to jail for drugs smuggling in the Netherlands but avoided jail because Suriname does not extradite its own citizens.
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