Inside the Hangar Controversy: Who’s Trying to Privatize a Public Road?

What happens when a public road starts feeling more like private property? That’s the question swirling around the Hangar in Belize City. A group of well-to-do seafront residents recently applied to carve up the area and even buy land in front of their homes. They say it’s about safety and saving the coastline from erosion. But the Ministry of Natural Resources reportedly shut the plan down almost immediately. So, why was it rejected so fast? Or, better yet, are there still plans to resubmit an application before proceeding to subdivide the land? And does this raise bigger questions about who gets to control access to public spaces? Tonight, we continue our deep dive into this brewing issue and what they mean for ordinary Belizeans. Here’s News Five’s Paul Lopez.

 

Paul Lopez, Reporting

On August twenty-third, residents in the Home Park area applied to the Ministry of Natural Resources for provisional approval to subdivide the area known as Hangar. They essentially wanted to convert the public road to private property, after numerous complaints about the way visitors have been utilizing the area. The application lists several proprietors’ names, including Louis Leslie, Henry C Fairweather, JRD Holdings Limited, Kenneth Clifton Fairweather, Nicolas Hastings. The client names on the application are Allen McNab, Jules Vasquez, Managing Director of 7 News, Louis Leslie and Michael Fields. The names, Michael Fields, Allen McNab, Dhiraj Nandwani of JRD Holdings Limited and Jules Vasquez, are also featured prominently on a 2022 petition requesting that the Belize City Council close public access to the seafront area. That petition was initially denied.

 

In compliance with the Land Utilization Act, the subdivision application was submitted along with a detailed plan. According to that plan, the Hangar would be divided into five sections: one allocated to JRD Holdings, another to Louis Leslie, a portion for McNab, a parcel for Fields, and finally, at the far end, a section designated for Jules Adrian Vasquez. A highly connected source within the Ministry of Natural Resources provided News Five with details of the application, including details of the individual application. And each application repeatedly points to the fact that these residents intend to use the subdivision for residential purposes. Importantly, each applicant authorized Dhiraj Nandwani to act as their representative in connection with a request to purchase the parcel of land owned by the Government of Belize located in front of their respective properties.

 

So, we reached out to the Chief Executive Officer in the Ministry of Natural Resources to find out about the status of that application, because granting provisional approval would likely spell the end of Hangar as a public road, stripped away from access to ordinary Belizeans. Well, CEO Thompson confirmed that the application was submitted with the hope that it would be before the Land Subdivision and Utilization Authority. But, according to Thompson, the application never made it that far, because he said it was, quote, instantaneously deemed a nonstarter. Thompson reasoned that applications to subdivide can only be made by the legal landowner, in this case the Government of Belize.

 

So, why was the application met with instantaneous disapproval and not elevated to the authority when, according to Section Ten of the Act, the authority must receive all applications for subdivision to do their investigation? Who made that call? Today, residents living along the seafront area issued a press release explaining why they applied to have the Hangar subdivided.

 

The release references longstanding concerns, such as safety, environmental and quality-of-life issues. The release also points to severe coastal erosion and rising sea levels, leading to street flooding. These residents say that if no action is taken the sea will reach its front gates within the next seven years. The release explains that after the 2022 City Council rejection, residents came together and decided to subdivide and acquire the land directly in front of their properties, with the intent to invest in the reconstruction of the seawall and responsibly manage the area.

 

But here’s what we’re asking: Who exactly are those residents? Which households signed on, and do they represent all seafront residents on St. Luke, St. John, and St. Edward Streets, or only a subset? When did the City Council reject the first proposal in 2022, and on what grounds? What does “subdivide and acquire the land directly in front of these properties” mean in practice, freehold transfer, lease, license, or easement? How many parcels and total square footage/meters were proposed?

 

But why not simply invest in the upgrading of the seawall for the greater good, instead of proposing to subdivide the Hangar? And, what about coming together to invest in increased security features within the area? Even more interesting, the failed 2022 petition was once again brought before the council, after the subdivision proposal was reportedly shut down. This time, it got the support of the Belize Police Department, with a letter written by former Commissioner of Police Chester Williams. The council approved the petition this time around and blocked off the Hangar to vehicular access. When we reached out to Belize City Mayor Bernard Wagner today, he said “We acted on the request of residents who make their home in the area and that was done through a petition. Our action was to limit access to the area only by foot. That is the extent of our action”.  When we asked him if he is aware that the request for subdivision, he said, “I have no knowledge of this”. But would Mayor Wagner support a move to put the Hangar into the hands of private landowners? We asked him and he said, “Those sorts of request and undertakings has been requested in the past by many residents. And on some occasions based on the circumstances we have allowed. I believe we will see more of such request in the future.  Personally, I am for prioritizing quality of life for all residents of the city”.

 

The residents in the area are standing by their position on the matter. They concluded their release by stating that they are committed to working collaboratively with the City Council, Lands Department and other stakeholders. Reporting for News Five, I am Paul Lopez.