Concerned Villagers Report Land Violations at Golden Stream

More updates to come out of the CCJ hearing between the Government of Belize and the Maya Leaders Alliance were the concerns of land violations in Golden Stream Village, Toledo District. Court Authority Rosa Solario explained that she requested documentation from the government relating to concerns of violations in Golden Stream Village.

 

Rosa Solario, Court Authority

“They are very focused on encroaching activity, which began on December twenty-ninthth of 2024 by third parties without their prior consent, prior consent of the village and there’s a number of allegations. I mean, there’s land clearing, there’s registering interest in land, trespassing on land, but also destruction of property. And the complaint addresses seven thousand acres in the village of Golden Stream. And this is all on the part of third parties as background, your honors. This is the second complaint that I have received related to the Golden Stream Village. The first one, I issued a report on June eighteenth, 2020, and it was a similar complaint in the sense that it was dealing with a license permit that was actually granted to conduct salvage logging in the Golden Stream River without consultation and consent. And when I actually visited the villages  in 2020, this was actually one of the villages that I had the opportunity  to visit as well. in terms of what would be great to hear from the government or know from the government when they, when they share their response or information or relevant documents, one is whether there has been any sort of investigation on the title or licenses that are at issue. This complaint, basically like the circumstances around  these activities and also whether they communicated the existence of Maya land rights right before granting this title or license. And one concern that I have looking at the complaint is  that it shouldn’t be up to third parties. You know, whether they decide whether the CCJ consent order applies to them or not. I mean, this is something that we would want the government to inform third parties before granting any sort of title or licenses.”