Perez Counters Accusation in Heated Ambergris Caye Land Dispute

Last Wednesday, during an opposition press conference on Ambergris Caye, a heated land dispute took center stage. A resident stepped forward claiming that Area Representative Andre Perez stripped him of his chance to own a piece of land on the island. He says he was already following the proper process and even brought his paperwork to prove it, only to later learn that someone else had bought the property out from under him. Tonight, Perez is firing back. The Belize Rural South Area Representative says the man and his wife are being disingenuous, insisting the family already owns land on the island and that he simply didn’t see the need to approve a second parcel.

 

Jose Hernandez, San Pedro Resident

“Minister Andre Perez took away my land where I have lived for eleven years. My children have grown up. When I moved there, there was no street. And I have struggled a lot to get to where I am now, and it is not fair that today another person comes with another title. I have papers here showing that I started paying for everything. I paid five hundred and fifty dollars that had to be paid first. And then I applied for the purchase price. Here I have another receipt showing a zero balance, and I applied for the purchase price. Two months later, they told me it was already approved. On December fifteenth, some other person now has title for it.”

 

Andre Perez, Area Representative, Belize Rural South

“I want to refer to an issue about a gentleman who stood by his side stating that he was displaced. Let me be clear. Yes, he showed documents. He did show documents. I do respect the man. Actually, he works for the town council. He drives the bus that we, as a representative, I provided a school bus for the children that live up North Ambergris. It’s part of my CDF funds. We bought a van to bring down the students. And he’s the designated driver that is paid for by the town council. He represents the actual, what people think that the government doesn’t know. His wife had a piece of property. He didn’t say he had a piece of property, but he was squatting on a piece of property next to his wife and saying that he got displaced. So I said, listen, the one beside your wife seems to be available. Let’s proceed. And then I’ll assist you to get that property for your wife. And then you can move your building on the land and it’s all over. So he agreed and we did that process to get the title for his wife. So, we were unbeknownst to us. We thought that everything was fine.”

 

With each side holding firm to its account, the dispute is shedding new light on how land decisions are handled and shared with the public.

 

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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