Squatter and Cop Brother go after Landowner

There is no shortage of land disputes and tonight a Belize City resident claims the property she owns continues to be illegally occupied. The unwelcome tenant refuses to leave and Kenisha Velasquez says the situation is now escalating and her family is coming under serious threat. News Five’s Delahnie Bain reports.

Delahnie Bain, Reporting

Lot number 1114 on Partridge Street is owned by Kenisha Velasquez, but there’s another occupant on the property and she wants him out. Velasquez says her mother lived on the land with permission from the previous owner in 2009, but after that house fell, she moved. She says Dyon Flowers had been inching onto the property since then and after Velasquez purchased it, he continued building.

Kenisha Velasquez, Owner, Parcel 1114 Partridge Street Ext.

Kenisha Velasquez

“After the house fell, he had the privilege to come and do whatever he wanted. When my mother was here, she used to call the police and told he cannot do what he want. The police came, Lands came and told him he cannot do what he want because the land has title. I was not the owner then; Elsa Williams was the owner, the person that I purchased the land from. After purchasing the land, I came to him—the tenth of February I purchased the land and I came to him around the fifteenth of February and I told him, young man you’re building a structure on that land, the land belongs to me now. He told me he does not want to hear anything. Let me do what I want and he will do what he wants.”

Velasquez says she has given him both verbal and written notice to vacate the property, but up to today he is still there so she has sought legal advice. But while she has paper to back her argument, Flowers says he was there first.

Kenisha Velasquez

“We didn’t have any more problems after going to police last year. They told him he need to come off the land, the land has title. I have a summons that I went to the court and took out. This is summons. I took out a summons for a civil suit. This summons is for him to get off the land. When they came looking for him—every time I call my police friend and he was there, by the time they got here he was already gone so the summons was not served. He told the police at Queen Street Police Station that me and him are going through this six years. We could never go through this for six years when I purchased the land in 2010.”

Dyon Flowers, Resident, Parcel 1114, Partridge Street Ext.

“I live eena dis thing yah fi so much years. Yoh si dis dah noh no just thing. I do everything weh everybody do fi try earn my property. I deh yah long before I even si she, this young lady. This thing dah from swamp I invest, I gone through all kinda thing fi my thing deh so. I got fence deh so, ih bruk dong di fence, bruk everything, tear up everything. I just di do wah honest living. I noh got nowhere fi go, only dis I could depend pan. I noh got nowhere fi go. I dah wah Belizean just like everybody else.”

Dyon Flowers

But the land dispute came to a head on Tuesday over a fence that Flowers built and Velasquez tore down. Velasquez claims that Flowers’ brother, a policeman, threatened her boyfriend and seventeen year old daughter.

Kenisha Velasquez

“Last night his brother that is a policeman, “Semi” came to the land. I was inside—he was telling him that I went too far and that the fat “B” has no right to take down any fence and he shouldn’t have let me take down the fence. My seventeen year old daughter told him she does not care what they are saying, they have no right to the land, we have papers for the land, my mother owns the land. He told her to shut the “F” up because she does not know who he is and he would just off we. Semi went to where he hang out at Zericote Street, asked for “Blunt”. When he asked for Blunt, Blunt says he came out the vehicle and went to him and by the time he got up, he seh he told him bwai I wah hurt you. He tell ah “hurt me?” Ih seh afta dat, Semi tell ah I promise you, I wah bruk yoh jaw. Who is he? Who he thinks he is?”

Dyon Flowers

“Now this di go to wah different level because my bredda noh got nothing fi do about dis. He noh got nothing fi do wid dis. Who is Semi? He is just my bredda but he dah noh no prime minister weh could fight fi land and certain thing. Dehn only want put wah innocent person eena dis. I noh di seh because dah my bredda, I fi talk fi my bredda; my bredda got ih own issues. Why he wah deal wid my issue when my issue dah wah problem we he can’t solve.”

Flowers believes that Velasquez is simply being greedy while he is trying to provide shelter for his children.

Dyon Flowers

“You can’t satisfy with weh you got so you want so much. So dat means if we can’t live together and you want everything, how you expect we fi live? How you expect we fi live eena wah country like dat when we business fi share the love, share everything you understand. We can’t greedy up everything, we have to look out fi each other and certain things. I got kids fi live fah, I have kids fi do everything fah. Dis dah all about my kids and we fi deh eena wah shelter but my belief is dat when yoh dead yoh noh wah ker den yah wid yoh but since yoh deh yah, yoh just want wah shelter long as yoh living.”

But this dispute is far from over since Velasquez says she is  not backing down.

Kenisha Velasquez

“I just came from internal affairs where we went to make a report against his brother and press charges. We are taking court action because we know what the police are capable of. Not all the police are bad; you have good ones but you have bad ones that spoil the bunch and make the rest of police look low and I think the police force needs to get rid of those people.  I am going to be behind internal affairs to make sure something is done about him. Mr. Flowers, I’m going to make it clear. I Kenisha Velasquez will not tolerate any police disrespecting my family because they wear a uniform.”

Dyon Flowers

“I just want people look out fi di people weh needy because me noh wah get no lawyer. Me dah noh money man. Before I go through with lawyer and so, I try invest and have summer programs fi kids, feeding program and what not. Di government or who in charge or the area rep could do something and work out this thing because this has to stop. This can’t go more further than this.”

Velasquez says the land that Flowers is occupying is to build another house for her kids. Delahnie Bain for News Five.

According to Velasquez, another family is squatting, but that situation is being sorted out amicably.