Government Moves to Settle Village Boundary Disputes in Southern Belize

Where does Placencia end and Seine Bight begin? This may sound like a simple question, but for the people who live in those communities, the answers have never been officially settled, and that is finally about to change. The government has put together a six-member independent commission with one job: to help sort out boundary disputes between four villages in the south that have gone unresolved for years. The commission is headed by Chief Magistrate Deborah Rogers and brings together experts from across government, the private sector, and the National Association of Village Councils. Now they want to hear from you. A series of public sessions is being held in the affected communities over the coming weeks, and residents are being encouraged to show up, ask questions, and share their concerns.

 

Clifford King, Director of Local Government

“Just for the record, Zenaida, there are only a few villages in Belize that have declared and established boundaries. I could give you two, for example, San Jose Palmar in Orange Walk District and Western Paradise in the Belize District. These areas have specific boundaries. Other villages across the country don’t have these boundaries, these declared gazetted boundaries, and so what these village councils and these communities have been operating under are what we call “traditional boundaries.” What people determine, well, my village starts here and it ends here. Roaring Creek starts at the bridge at Guanacaste and ends around the curve before we get to Camalote, and people say, well, that is my space. The lines have become extremely blurred in many instances over the years with development, with growth, with expansion. The independent commission is appointed by the minister to mediate the situation and to hear the views of the village council, key community stakeholders. So these public consultation sessions that we’re going to be having, is part of the methodology that we’re using to gather information. Incidentally, that starts tonight in Placencia and we have invited the public to come out. It’s going to be 6 p.m. tonight at the Placencia Basketball Court and then tomorrow we’ll be at the community center in Seine Bight.”

 

Seine Bight Chairman Speaks on Ongoing Boundary Discussions

 

And one of the communities at the center of that boundary discussion is Seine Bight. We spoke with Seine Bight Village Council Chairperson Jose Aleman, who says both councils have already had the chance to make written submissions and respond to each other.

 

On the Phone: Jose Aleman, Chairperson, Seine Bight Village Council

“Well, obviously the committee, with reference to the Village Council Act, the minister, as explained by the director of local government, has that power, that privilege to appoint an independent committee so that villages can identify their boundaries, et cetera. St. Mike and Placencia is no different. As you all know, we’re among the four communities that are in dispute of our boundaries. And the dispute can be for many reasons. It could be for land expansion. It could be reference revenues, et cetera. However, we have a mandate as a council and our people has given us our mandate. And as such, after the independent commission had created their terms of reference, they consulted with both councils. And both councils received the opportunity to have made submissions and thereafter responded to each other’s submission. And this weekend, we’ll be giving an opportunity for the independent commission to come into both communities as well, where they will be doing public hearings.”

 

Officials warn that boundary disputes are likely to continue surfacing across the country, and village councils are being encouraged to work together early by signing memorandums of understanding to establish a clear starting point for future boundary mapping.

 

Attention readers: This online newscast is a direct transcript of our evening television broadcast. When speakers use Kriol, we have carefully rendered their words using a standard spelling system.

 

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