Former Area Representative Anthony ‘Boots’ Martinez is under fire after fencing off a piece of land that many Belize City residents once considered part of their public beachfront. The two-and-a-half-acre property, located near what was once known as Belizean Beach, has sparked public outrage. For decades, this stretch of coastline offered a rare escape for families in the Old Capital, until the Belize Coast Guard established its headquarters nearby. Even then, a portion of the beach remained open to the public—until now. Martinez’s move to enclose the land has reignited long-standing concerns about public access to coastal spaces and the privatization of once-shared community areas.
Anthony ‘Boots’ Martinez, Contractor
“You couldn’t, eena di last month and change, you couldn’t access here so easy. Thick with swamp and so, and been coast guard mi put up da fence, di people dehn use to come eena da next property deh and walk een through some picado road. Soh I don’t know… but in real truth, here was never a beach environment. This spot here was never a beach environment. You could see it fi yohself, if yoh look over deh yoh wah sih weh paat deh da mi beach environment. I noh have wahn difficulty with it, but I have problem when, eena my view, I guess because I da former politician or whatsoever, but I da Belizean. I da wahn investor, I da contractor, I do all kinda thing. I da noh no big name, soh I have a difficulty with it. Dah noh like nothing ya di destroy di environment, di destroy nothing. We noh di encroach on nobody land, yoh noh di encroach pan no private property. That is… da noh like if it’s an issue environmentally, right here is environmentally sound.”
