Elderly Pomona Resident Claims Harassment in Escalating Land Dispute

A simmering land dispute in Pomona Village is boiling over again tonight, and the family at the center of it says the situation has taken a troubling turn. The children of seventy‑four‑year‑old Miguel Angel Trejo say their father now fears for his safety, accusing Stann Creek West Area Representative Rodwell Ferguson of harassing the elderly villager. The conflict revolves around a piece of land that includes a cave, and efforts continue to relocate the Trejo family from the property. Earlier today, we spoke by phone with Miguel Trejo’s son, Alfredo, who walked us through what he says happened in the latest confrontation.

 

On the phone: Alfredo Trejo, Pomona Resident

“Yesterday, dehn gaan to my pa and threaten him, and he say every day dehn go do it. He di send people, fi he workers, to threaten him, to tell him to move from the land. But now my dad is really, really, he’s scared now. My family, he’s scared now because he noh got nobody right deh. All ah we… da only my lee bredda deh right deh. And ih really frustrating fi sih deh ya kinda videos with the minister, Mr. Rodwell Ferguson, the minister who supposed to be helping us. The cave is distant from the land which dehn have more space weh he could mek fi he own road to the land, to the cave, if he really interested in the cave. Which I noh sih no benefit to that cave, he have a hotel close by which gets tourists and he takes his son and that da why he wahn di cave. But he wahn di land because di land already have plantation which we have been working from when I small. I’ve been planting there, planting all kinds of trees. We have invested thousands of dollars on that land fi mek he just come from nowhere and take it away.”

 

Pomona Land Feud Intensifies as Both Sides Clash

 

The land dispute in Pomona Village is deepening tonight, as both sides lay out starkly different accounts of what’s happening on the ground. The Trejo family says seventy‑four‑year‑old Miguel Angel Trejo now fears for his safety, accusing Area Representative Rodwell Ferguson of harassment and repeated attempts to push them off the land. But Ferguson is disputing that account, outlining a years‑long effort to relocate the family because the property sits on government land that includes a cave he says should fall under NICH’s control. He maintains the son agreed to move and was given a new lot and title, only for the elder Trejo to return and begin building again.

 

On the phone: Rodwell Ferguson, Area Representative, Stann Creek West

“There’s two side to a story. Samuel Trejo was farming at that property for, I’d say, roughly fifteen to sixteen years. After about eight years, he put up a house on that property where he lives. Ever since I became the area rep, he comes to me and wants to apply for the land. I told him, “Sir, this should be the property of the Government of Belize and by further notice, NICH… because a cave is on the property.” I told them NICH can apply to GOB for the cave and then they can manage it with anybody who wants to manage along with them through an agreement. They take thirty percent and the management team takes seventy percent. So Samuel, the son, agreed, where he signed an agreement that if we provide him with a lot and a title and move his house, he is prepared to sign the agreement. So he signed the agreement a little over three weeks ago, and we personally moved his house to the new location. He is very, very happy because he has something that he owns. So after he moved the house, the father decided to say that he would strong the land and started to put up a structure there as we speak. So it has a foundation and it has four walls. So we passed there yesterday, I explained to the team as we were doing the tour that this is the position on this piece of land. As a matter of fact, Dr. Badillo, from NICH, was along with us and she advised that the cave has a lot of potential. So they will send back their people to do a study of the cave for tourism potential. So, what we are doing here in Stann Creek Valley, we are forming a cooperative, whereby the cooperative will manage the cave once NICH agrees.”

 

As both sides dig in, the Trejo family says they’re bracing for what happens next while officials wait for NICH’s assessment to determine the future of the property.

 

 

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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