Year: 2024

On Sunday, a public consultation was held in San Pedro, Columbia in Toledo in order to discuss the government’s Draft Maya Customary Land Policy. These public consultations are a necessary part of the legislative process as the impacted communities are able to give their input before a law is put into effect. As there are over forty Mayan villages to consult with, the process has only just begun, but it would seem that San Pedro, Columbia has made its mind with a resounding no to the proposition of communal land. We attended the public consultation for more information. News Five’s Britney Gordon Reports.

 

Britney Gordon, Reporting

Residents of San Pedro, Columbia are regarding the recent public consultation a success after the community was able to voice its opinions regarding the Draft Maya Customary Land Policy. A major point of contention was the proposition of communal land for residents, which would result in the suspension of any private land titles currently held in that area. We spoke with Minister of Rural Transformation Oscar Requeña who stressed the importance of these consultations.

 

Oscar Requeña, Area Representative, Toledo West

“This is an ongoing process. As you are aware, the government continues to go community to community engaging. The villagers in consultation on the draft Maya land policy. Columbia is just one of those stops here today, and I must say that I’m very grateful that the community came out. We, you saw that the people had an opportunity to be able to listen, to ask their questions, and to get clarifications. My position has been very clear that, at the end of the day, the government presents the draft policy engages the communities in consultations to get the feedback. And at the end of the day, we have to respect the wishes and the will of the people. That is democracy. We cannot, we are not in any way, imposing one over the other to the communities. We have to respect the will of the people.”

 

Requeña noted that, although the turnout appeared small, it was a good representation of the Mayan Community in San Pedro, Columbia.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oscar Requena

“I’ll tell you what. San Pedro, Columbia is a very unique village. And I don’t want you to get a misrepresentation of the numbers that you see here. Generally for meetings, this is, in fact, today I think you have gotten a very good attendance. Really and truly, because generally, people don’t really come out for meetings here in the community. So I think that if you were to really take, a census of the people who are out here today that represents a good percentage of the community being out here.”

 

 

Chairman of San Pedro, Columbia, Basilicas Choco, explained that one of the positive outcomes of the public consultation was being able to gather the opinion of the community on matters that have previously remained unresolved, such as that on communal land.

 

Basilicas Choco, Chairman, San Pedro, Columbia

“Today I am very happy because of the fact that, Before, we have several meetings. We have had meetings with MLA. We have had meetings with the government side. But the community has never taken a position. And up to today, we still haven’t taken a position. There are questions in the air as it regards to communal land. And today, I believe that is clear for majority of our people. And the next step, as I was telling them in our meeting, which I had planned for a meeting today with an attorney, which is supporting us in finding alternatives, because our community doesn’t want communal land. Majority of our community doesn’t want communal land. We are trying to seek advice, independent advice. Not from MLA, not from government. So our next meeting would be scheduling, looking at the alternative and that’s what I explained to them.”

 

Choco further explained that consultation helped to educate residents as a first step towards independent land ownership.

 

Basilicas Choco

“Since a majority of our community doesn’t want communal land, as I said to them, we want to identify people who have leased land, we want to identify people who have private property, we want to identify people who are living on land that is not measured or surveyed yet, then we want to identify our people who do not have land at all. Then we are going to propose to government this is what we want. We don’t want this to come out of community land, and we don’t have an alternative. We have, and we have been thinking ahead. But we want to educate our people first, and I believe today was a great day to educateour people.”

 

We also spoke with a resident of San Pedro, Columbia to hear how he feels about conclusion of the consultation.

 

Cipriano Salam, Resident

“I feel it about it’s very difficult concerning this communal land, what’s happening, and all of us, well not the whole community, but very few of the community that they have a lease land and a private land. And we are not used to that again because our community is growing big. This village here, I know when I was a little boy here around the school here; it’s a big tree here. This is a big tree, but now, the population, it’s growing now. You go to the back street here, we have a lot of people, a lot are there in the bush. And some of them, they have a lot of children at their home, they don’t have no land, and that’s very difficult to us, that’s why we are not interested of communal land. We are interested of our own private property or lease land, but we are interested of that because we have our grand pikni. I have a grand pikni, about thirty of them. There are a lot of them. So where these kids are going now whenever I die?  I know I’m not going to carry nothing to die, but I’m going to leave something for the inheritance of my grand pikni.”

 

Britney Gordon for News Five.

On Sunday afternoon in southern Belize, the Ministry of Indigenous People’s Affairs, along with representatives of the Attorney General’s Ministry, convened a meeting with residents of San Pedro, Columbia to discuss the Draft Maya Customary Land Policy.  The public consultation was the first since the last time that a similar session was held in Punta Gorda on January twenty-seventh.  The village is one of many recognized as an indigenous community in Toledo District, however, a majority of residents are not in favor of communal land.  They attended the meeting, heard what was presented by the government officials and shared their views on what is being proposed.  Here’s News Five’s Isani Cayetano with that story.

 

Isani Cayetano, Reporting

A customary land policy is important because it recognizes and validates traditional land rights and uses.  It is necessary for ensuring tenure security, promoting sustainable practices, reducing conflicts, and facilitating development.  A policy also provides a framework for sustainable land management practices that balance environmental, social, and economic needs.  In southern Belize, the government has been meeting with various communities, including the village of San Pedro, Columbia, where representatives held their latest public consultation.

 

Andrew Marshalleck, S.C., Attorney-at-law

“The Consent Order and the decision by Chief Justice Conteh back in 2008 both recognize that the rights of the Maya people to use land in the ways that they have customarily and historically used land is protected under the constitution.  The form of protection it gets is that these rights, they constitute intangible property and the constitution protects this right to property.”

 

San Pedro, Columbia remains undecided when it comes to communal land rights.  It is one of few Maya villages still on the fence regarding that controversial issue.

 

Resident 1, San Pedro, Columbia

“If we choose to go communal, it means that all those leases, all those titles are lost and it means that all the work that we’ve done on those farmlands is also lost because it becomes communal property.  My question would be, what mechanism or mechanisms are envisioned to ensure that there is equitable distribution within the communal system because if you noh like somebody and you responsible fi distribute land, we know how that can go.  And so, the becomes very important.”

 

 

The implementation of that Consent Order as mandated by the Caribbean Court of Justice, in affirming the decision of the Supreme Court, has been a long drawn-out process.  It has also been a divisive course of action.

 

Andrew Marshalleck S.C.

“There’s a system for the state to recognize and certify where ownership lies and what it is saying is that in operating that system, you have to have regard to other people who are within those spaces and some fair way of deciding has to be established as to who gets what when more than one person is claiming the same space, even when it’s the village claiming that space.  And the primary, the primary criteria for deciding those issues is who is in fact there using it.”

 

Customary land policies help secure land tenure for indigenous and local communities, which can lead to improved stewardship of the land and natural resources.  Nonetheless, the idea of owning it collectively does not sit well with everyone.

 

Resident 1

“If it is for everybody, it is for nobody.  So I think that in Columbia, there is already a system where people recognize who owns which piece, we respect that already and, therefore, I am asking, let us consider it very keenly because if we make the wrong decision then we’re going back to square one and all the investments that we have all made on our lands could potentially be lost.”

 

 

Clear policies on customary land rights can help prevent disputes over land use and access to natural resources.  During the meeting held on Sunday, the question was raised whether past alcaldes of San Pedro, Columbia gave consent on behalf of the community to join as an interested party in the matter that was before the CCJ.

 

Resident 2, San Pedro, Columbia

“Has the government come across any affidavit signed by any alcalde of this community indicating that they are onboard with this case presented to the CCJ? And I can attest to it that Jorge Coc, the then alcalde at that time when all these things were coming up, did not sign.  Brother Sylvestre Caal did not sign.  If they did it, it was solely on their own without public consultation.”

 

Isani Cayetano for News Five.