Former Mayor Sharon Palacio Says She Is Not Sorry

In a bold and unapologetic stance, former Belmopan Mayor Sharon Palacio has defended her decision to allocate lands to impoverished citizens at significantly reduced prices during her time in office. In a detailed written statement to the media, Palacio passionately explained her motivations behind what has now been dubbed the “land giveaway” in the Capital City. She accused the current council of attempting to tarnish her legacy, which she proudly claims, “empowered the disenfranchised”. Adding a personal touch to the story, we also heard from one of the land recipients who has now agreed to pay the full market value for the property. He expressed his belief that the entire process was conducted with utmost transparency. News Five’s Paul Lopez brings us more to this developing story.

 

Paul Lopez, Reporting

Former Belmopan Mayor Sharon Palacio has broken her silence on a land grab scandal that occurred in the Capital City under her leadership. The council issued dozens of lands in Innovabel Estate at rates that saw as much as ninety-five percent discounts. A leaked document from within the council reveals that many of Palacio’s relatives and former council colleagues received land at these discounted prices. In a statement to the media today, Mayor Palacio said, quote, “I was glad that I was able to help ordinary Belizeans who would never have been able to get a piece of land in Belmopan in general or at Innovabel in particular”, unquote. As we have reported, current Mayor Pablo Cawich has issued a public plea for these land title holders to visit City Hall and make the necessary arrangements to pay off the discounted balance. One individual on the list of recipients is Belmopan Resident, Kahlil Enriquez, who gave us an off-camera interview. He says that he approached the council about acquiring a parcel of land in Belmopan upon his return from studying overseas. He was offered a lot in Innovabel Estate.

 

Voice of: Kahlil Enriquez, Innovabel Land Recipient

“The initial deal was that the land was valued at twenty thousand dollars, and I would get a discount at twenty -five percent so my total payment would be fifteen thousand dollars. So, after paying fifteen thousand I would be given title to this property. But a lot of persons believe that I paid fifteen hundred dollars and received title for this land. That is simply not what happened. I made a payment arrangement with the former council, and I renewed that arrangement with the current council. I am committed to paying the full value of the land which is almost twenty thousand dollars. So, I have already paid towards this parcel which I intend to own soon. As the document presented to you shows, I have been making payments and I will not receive title until the entire sum, the entire value is paid. I don’t want the impression to be that I benefited from an illegal land transaction, because that is simply not the case.”

 

In her statement to the media, Mayor Palacio referred to these land distributions under her tenure as her legacy. She wrote, “I am not surprised that the current Mayor and his cohorts are investing time and energy trying to erase and minimize my legacy: that is empower the disenfranchised. I am also not surprised that lands which were ill gotten by the wealthy will never see the light of day. Poor people need land too”. Enriquez says he came forward to clear his name, given that it was on the leaked document.

 

Kahlil Enriquez

“From my understanding this is the actual price of the land and the council has been losing hundreds of thousands of dollars from the persons not paying their fair share for these properties. So I want to uphold my integrity and do the right thing by paying my fair share of what the land is worth, which is close to twenty-thousand dollars. That is what I believe I must do. I want to make it unequivocally clear that I did not participate in any land grab or transaction. I wanted to legitimately own my first parcel of land in Belmopan.”

 

Referring to herself in the third person, Palacio’s release further stated, “Mayor Sheran Palacio has not gained a single copper from any land allocated to any of the current owners”, her statement further noted. “As an altruistic stateswoman you will see that the recipients included persons from all ethnicities, color, gender and political persuasion”, she went on to say, adding, “you can check the records. And for this, I will stand firm unapologetically. My motto and mantra shall remain change from the heart. This was the spirit under which these lands were allocated”. She also encouraged these landowners to quote, “hold fast, band together, organize and get ready for whatever lies ahead”.  And, what lies ahead is yet to be determined by current Mayor Pablo Cawich.

 

Pablo Cawich, Mayor, Belmopan

“It has not happened as yet. As you know the news just broke, or the details just broke out yesterday. So, no further discussions as with any thing with process or reproductions or anything like that.”

 

Paul  Lopez

“Has these details pushed your team to consider any sort of legal recourse or court action with the former Mayor?”

Pablo Cawich

“As I have expressed recently, court action is not something we want to explore as yet. It is not something we want to explore until we are given the go ahead by our legal counsel. From the inception of this news with Innovabel issue we have harped on saying that our primary focus is to collect the proper funds that are due.”

 

Reporting for News Five, I am Paul Lopez