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Belize must revisit laws that harm the country

EditorialBelize must revisit laws that harm the country

Laws are essential — necessary to create a space where human beings can function as civilized beings. Laws are not intrinsically good. There was a time when all the laws in our country were made by rich and powerful Europeans, for rich and powerful Europeans. There were many bad laws then, and the most notorious one allowed only a certain class of people to vote.

Belize is a democracy now, a country where the laws are made by people representing the majority. The rich and powerful aren’t easily denied; through various means they try to get the people’s leaders to do their bidding, pass laws that favour them, but generally in our country the laws are made with the intent to serve the majority.

When the majority started to have a full say in the running of the country, beginning with self-government in 1964, full control of the lands that had not already been sold, and laws on the books that had served the rich and powerful Europeans mightily during the time when we were colonial subjects, were passed on to our governments. Our governments, since 1964, very energetically set about distributing the remaining land to the masses, while conserving some for future generations and for environmental reasons, and, of a fashion, they set about changing/tweaking some of the carryover laws to make them serve our people better.

Not all the laws we inherited from the old, oppressive days are bad. Some have been made redundant by the times, and some have been abused by scoundrels.

One important “law” that we inherited was the Westminster System of governance, and for various reasons, some of them corrupt, we proceeded to make a mockery of that one. Somehow, our leaders, who in this instance might be considered characters straight out of the book called “Animal Farm”, wrecked the check and balance system, and pulled the curtain on transparency and accountability. They promise every general election to make the system work as it should, but invariably they yield to their rich and powerful donors, and other sorts.

One “bad” law we inherited allowed governments to give out 500,000-acre logging rights to foreign companies, to take trees from the forest right up to villagers’ doors, bulldoze through creeks and cliffs, and it also permitted them to issue to wealthy foreigners and people friendly with the government large parcels in areas where villagers farmed and hunted. All that changed when the villagers challenged the government, and the Chief Justice at the time, Dr. Abdulai Conteh, ruled magnificently that the villagers in Toledo West had communal land rights in the areas they traditionally utilized.

Speculation is of doubtful value for our developing country, but the laws that govern land encourage it. Individuals and companies can hold land almost to infinity while paying very little taxes. Private property is king in a capitalist country, and that’s why governments are extremely hesitant to intervene when individuals are not utilizing land in the country’s best interest. The UDP promised in its 2020-2025 manifesto to address speculation and like matters but, after going “all out” to even the score with the PUP which had presided over the distribution of our land and other assets during all the years of self-government, between 1964 and 1981, the people ignored them at the polls because they weren’t honourable enough, nor had credibility enough, nor were trusted enough to preside over such a progressive but sensitive exercise.

Antiquated laws and bad laws are harming Belize. Too often, accused murderers laugh through court doors, freed on a technicality to carry on in society as though they have never taken what no man can give: a life. Stuck with old laws that aren’t good for Belize, we suffer greatly, perishing because our leaders have not the vision, the boldness, and sometimes not the integrity, to do what has to be done.

Private ownership and a burial ground

The standoff between land developers/speculators and some villagers in Hopkins over a plot of land to the north of the village could be considered small, if it is compared to some other issues our country is facing at this time; but wherever Belizeans feel they are being unjustly treated, good leadership has to come to the fore to ensure that the best path is followed. It is so that sometimes a pimple hides a serious condition, and sometimes a pimple unaddressed can grow into something large.

There are many land issues in Belize that need addressing. A number of them we inherited from colonial days. Many are the creation of shortsighted or sometimes not so sincere leaders. Some have been caused by natural phenomena, for example the 66 feet public access in some areas being wiped out by erosion. In some coastal areas, landowners are insisting on rights up to the government cement pillars. Foreign landowners push their fences right into the sea.

Re: this difference in Hopkins, on one side is a developer with rights over the land, and on the other side are villagers who must have some envy that so much prime beach land is under private ownership right under their noses, and that any development in the area could trample a not clearly defined sacred space: the resting place of their ancestors.

Going back a little, the original Garinagu inhabitants of Hopkins escaped from Honduras in 1937, after supporting General Justo Umaña in his failed attempt to overthrow the Carías Andino dictatorship there. After a number of atrocities were committed against them, there was an exodus to Belize, the land of freedom for persecuted peoples from all over the world. They settled in a place called New Town, which lies between present day Hopkins and Dangriga. When that village was destroyed by hurricane in 1941, the villagers moved to higher ground, to Hopkins.

In the ebb and flow of time there were land transactions, and the land in the area they left became privately owned, or private owners emerged. But some villagers still visited and utilized some of the space, and guarded the spot where their ancestors who died there between 1937 and the 1941 hurricane, were buried.

A 2022 story by Love FM said a private landowner was facing opposition in Hopkins when he moved to fence the land. The developer/speculator told the news house they had no plans to develop the parcel at the time, but they had observed encroachments. The developer said they didn’t want a contentious relationship with villagers.

Ms. Marion Ali, in a Channel Five story dated March 15, 2023, said that former Hopkins chairman, Mr. Orlando Augustine, said that back in 2007 villagers decided they wanted ten acres of the land to be declared a park, and they didn’t want anyone to build on it. Augustine said surveys were done in the area in 2019 without the knowledge of the village’s leaders. Mr. Emilio Basilio Zabaneh, one of the landowners in the area, told Channel Five that he is a reasonable guy, and he is willing to sit down with villagers and negotiate.

To date, Hopkins, for various reasons, hasn’t made a unified stand on this matter.

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