Police Officers are Eligible as First-time Land Owners

Over six hundred applications have been submitted by the Belize Police Department on behalf of officers who qualify as first-time land owners.  Through a partnership between the ministries of Home Affairs and Natural Resources, parcels of land are being made available to the men and women of law enforcement.  It’s a worthwhile initiative that will see many owning a piece of property.  Commissioner of Police Chester Williams agrees that the effort is commendable.

 

Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police

“I must say that the police department is very grateful for the good gesture coming from our minister, as well as the Ministry of Natural Resources.  I remembered when government changed in 2020, myself and Minister Musa discussed the issue of police land ownership as there were a number of police officers who were clamoring for land.  In some cases, they were saying that they applied on numerous occasions and got no feedback.  And we do believe that, yes, as police officers, you spend so many years serving this country in a way that many people would not want to.  So, we thought it fit that it would be good for us to look at a land program and so with that we decided that we had to set a criteria and the criteria was that those persons who would apply would have to have at least five years or more service in the department.  So there was a minimum period that you had to be a police officer to be eligible, and in addition to that we were looking for it to be first-time land ownership.  So if you have not been given a piece of land before by the state then you would have eligible.  If you would have gotten one passed down to you from your parents, that would not have disqualified you.”