Minister of Indigenous Affairs on Jalacte Appeal

Dolores Balderamos Garcia

Minister Dolores Balderamos also weighed in on the matter of the Supreme Court’s ruling in favour of the residents of Jalacte Village. The residents were awarded six million dollars in damages following the pavement on the Jalacte Road. The Chief Justice concluded that the former administration violated customary land rights when the road was paved in the village. But G.O.B. is not giving up without a fight and will appeal.

Dolores Balderamos Garcia, Minister of Indigenous People’s Affairs

“We are not just looking to do so, we will do so. There are some legal issues that arose. Even if it were just the matter of quantum, we must look at an appeal there. I think there are some legal issues at hand which have been discussed and you can depend that an appeal will be going forward. I notice the last time somebody asked, “Aren’t you the Minister for Indigenous People’s Affairs?” It is two separate things. We have the Jalacte case which the ruling just came out  three weeks ago. As a responsible government, we have to look at those issues but I can assure you that the work of the ministry will continue. We will continue to engage with our Maya brothers and sisters of the South. I have always said that we may not always agree, but this government is absolutely committed to the implementation of the consent order of the CCJ. It is now six years. We can’t act overnight but we will try to act a little bit quicker and more effectively than what happened between 2015 and 2020.”