Leaders Unite to Reject Ethnic Division Over Land Rights

Leaders from the Maya, Garifuna, and Kriol communities are urging Belizeans not to let land rights discussions turn into division. While each group stands by its historical claims, they reject framing the issue as ethnic conflict. Minister Louis Zabaneh echoes that call, stressing dialogue and unity. A national forum on the issue is set for June 22.

 

Dr. Louis Zabaneh, Minister of Indigenous People’s Affairs

“We certainly want to keep in mind  that we’ve worked all together as different ethnic groups. We’ve worked very hard to build Belize, right, from the fight for independence all the way through to today. It’s been because of the hard work, the sacrifice of all of our people coming together. Now we have to respect each other’s histories and whatever differences we have we really use that as a source of strength, of diversity, right? I will take this opportunity to mention that on the twenty-second of this month we’re working our ministry and the University of Belize, to undertake a forum where we’ll have a panel discussion giving opportunity to each of the stakeholders. So you’ll have the government perspective, you will have the MLA, TAA, you will have the third parties represented by the Toledo Lease Landowners. Then you will also have the non-Maya communities. You will have the NGOs that are there working on sustainable use of our protected areas. And then we also have to give an opportunity to, to even Maya communities that do not wish to go down this road, so that then Belizeans can see overall that, you know, there are many different perspectives. And it’s a tenuous situation that very delicate, and it is incumbent on all stakeholders, each one individually, to work to ensure that we keep our country strong, that we do everything in a respectful way, that we look out for each other, and that we communicate openly, frankly, but respectfully so that we could find common ground because there is common ground. And the most – the basic common denominator is that we’re Belizeans.”

 

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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