Belize is a country with a population of about 400,000 people. It is underpopulated, and there is enough land in the 8,867 square miles, to give each Belizean a lot to build a home for his/her family and himself/herself. Plus, almost every Belizean family owns farmland which can be subdivided to give all their members a lot to build a house for themselves.

Yet, there are hundreds of Belizeans at home and abroad, who are yearning to get a piece of lot to build their homes but cannot get a lot to do so. The reasons include control by the politicians of the distribution and acquisition of land with their signatures; the government’s encroachment, use and sale of lands belonging to the indigenous people without their Prior Consent and Approval (PCA); the refusal of selfish family members who have the title for the family land to share it with other family members who are entitled to some of it; and the sale of families’ titled land by single members of the family without the written consent and approval of all the family members. There are also other scenarios, involving family members who had or have access to a government leased property that was given to their parents and sold the lease; and family members who acquired the lease and purchased the land for themselves. The causes of the land crisis also include the failure of government to issue ongoing leases to citizens regularly; the long waiting period for the government of Belize to issue Certificate of Titles to people after they discontinued Fiat Titles; the deliberate replacement of the owners of leased properties by some government employees without granting the current lease holder prior notice and due process; no new designation of land by the government in the districts for lease distribution; fraudulent processing of land titles by some people in Belize; and the refusal of Lands Department employees to process citizens’ documents in a timely manner.

Years ago, in order for Belizeans to get a lot or a piece of land, the PUP and UDP had a Lots Committee in each district to implement the entire process. Under that system, most people got land when their party was in power. If their party was not in power, their applications were never processed. They were told by the government employees at the local offices, that their applications were sent to Belmopan.

That system was hated by most Belizeans, and the UDP and PUP promised to come up with a more fair and transparent process, which never became reality. Today, that system is being replaced by the UDP and PUP, with a process that requires a person to obtain their Representative’s signature in the area where the land is located before any action can commence. However, if that representative’s party is not in power, his or her signature has no value.

Also, if the representative does not like a person or thinks that he or she did not vote for him or her, that representative will not sign their application. This is what many Belizeans, including myself, have been experiencing while trying to acquire a piece of lot or land in my country of birth. Almost every Belizean citizen has experienced one of these issues that I have outlined in this article. This is a lot of pain and suffering that we have been going through in our country for years now with the two major political parties, the PUP and UDP, in Belize.

While we the citizens continue to hope and wait, under the Belize refugee program, many Guatemalans and Salvadorans have come and continue to come into Belize and have gotten lots and farmlands for their families and themselves. I have nothing against these people, but this is not the way that the government of Belize should be treating its native citizens. Business people with money also have been coming into Belize to purchase huge parcels of lands from the government. We the Belizean people should not allow these abuses to continue under these two major political parties any longer.

I ask that we organize a Belizean Land Rights Rally. All the issues that I outlined, should be brought to the attention of our elected representatives. We should also give them a timeframe to address our land concerns. Here is a case in point: I bought a lot in Dangriga in the 1990’s and have a Fiat. I submitted documents for a Certificate of Title five years ago and I just got it in November of last year before the General Elections were held. How much longer must other citizens and myself wait? There are many other Belizeans like me, who are going through this same experience. Without our land documents, we cannot obtain a loan to build our homes.

The Mayas, after decades of fighting for their land rights, won their case against the Belize government in the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) to exercise control and use their lands. The judgement was originally delivered by Supreme Court justice, Abdulai Conteh. This ruling also affirms the rights of the Garifuna and other indigenous ethnic groups in Belize. They are yet to come to the court to seek their rights as well.

All the government of Belize must do now, is to conduct their surveys and mapping and pass an Indigenous Land Rights Act (ILRA) to issue Collective Titles to the indigenous people in Belize, but they are stalling the process. They will then be in a position to issue leases and titles to their people through their own land administrative methods and agencies.

It is now time for all the Belizean citizens at home and abroad, to bring their land problems in the forefront of this struggle, because we cannot endure this pain and suffering any more. The issue of the constant migration of refugees from Guatemala and El Salvador has made this problem even worse. New villages with immigrants, especially in the southern and western parts of Belize, are growing rapidly.

Some of the new migrant villages are even extending into older villages that were there before, and are causing tensions to increase among the Garifuna, the Mayas and other ethnic groups. Both the UDP and the PUP continue to grant these citizens lands and citizenship so that they can get their votes in elections. While they are getting lands and citizenships, the Belizean government has been rejecting their own natural-born citizens from getting any lands. Most Belizeans dream of building a house for their family and themselves.

Those dreams have remained unfulfilled for decades. The new Minister of Lands, Hon. Cordel Hyde, has promised to make the issue of land acquisition for all the citizens of Belize, one of his top priorities. Since the election, he has been travelling throughout the entire country of Belize, consulting the Belizean citizens. Let us hope and pray that he succeeds in doing it.